
Qass. 
Book. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



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(^J 



HOME DRESSMAKING 




A Sewing Room 



HOME DRESSMAKING 



A COMPLETE GUIDE TO 



HOUSEHOLD SEWING 



BY ^ 



ANNIE E. MYERS 



Fully Illustrated with more than One Hundred Engravings 







"^7 






y CHICAGO 

CHARLES H. SERGEL & COMPANY 

MDCCCXCII 

, Co 



.-\'^ 



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Copyright, 1892. By 
Charles H. Sergel & Company. 



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PREFACE. 



In undertaking this work there has been a higher 
object than merely adding another to the long catalogue 
of books. My great ambition has been to help women 
who are trying to help themselves. As a young woman 
who wished to be as well dressed as my limited means 
allowed, I had to work out for myself the principles of 
planning, cutting and making my own gowns. Again, 
as a writer for newspapers and magazines, I had to study 
to formulate into words the knowledge I had gained by 
practical work. Many and many were the times I 
wished for some book to help in both my hand work and 
my writing. There was none in the market. To offer 
other women the help I vainly craved I present this 
book to the public. 

Annie E. Myers. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

Training for Hand-sewing — The Sewing-room — Tools for Cutting 
— The Shears — Tools for Sewing — Tools for Fitting — Tools 
for Pressing. ,...'.... ii 

CHAPTER H 
dressmakers' findings 
Linings — Facings — Wadding and Canvas — Fastenings — Whale- 
bones and Casings — Shields — Yokes. . . . . .21 

CHAPTER III 

HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 

The Modern Gored Skirt — The Foundation Skirt — Skirt Drap 
eries — The Kilt Skirt — The Trained Skirt — Reeds. . . 29 

CHAPTER IV 

HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

An Ordinary Basque — The Pattern — First Step in Making — Bast- 
ing the Lining — Fitting the Lining — Fitting the Basque — Cut- 
ing out Stripes and Plaids — Stitching Seams — Finishing Seams 
— Pressing Seams — Finishing Closing Edges. ... 47 

CHAPTER V 

HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE — CONTINUED 

Boning a Basque — Scale for Placing the Bones — Finishing Edges 
— To Finish a Tailor Garment — Lead Weights. . . 64 

CHAPTER VI 

SLEEVES AND COLLARS 

Dress Sleeves — Making a Coat Sleeve — Sewing in a Sleeve — 
Jacket and Cloak Sleeves — Standing Collars — Turned-over Col- 
lars — Revers Collars — Plastrons. ..... 78 

vii 



via CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII 

JACKETS AND CLOAKS 

Ladies' Tailoring — Its Difi&culty — The Pattern — Sponging Cloth 
— Cutting Cloth — Lining a Wrap — Finishing Seams. . 89 

CHAPTER VIII 

PLAIN SEWING AND FANCY STITCHES 

Over-hand Sewing— Fine Stitching — Running Seams — Back- 
Stitching — Hemming — Hem-Stitching — Felling— French Fell 
— Gathering — Shirring — Overcasting — Tucking — Gussets- 
Patching — Sewing on Strings 96 

CHAPTER IX 

PLAIN SEWING AND FANCY STITCHES CONTINUED 

Slip-Stitching — Whipping — Binding — Cording — Piping — Darning 
— Chain-Stitch — Cross-Stitch— Herring-Bone Stitch — Loops — 
Button-holes — Sewing on Pearl and Similar Buttons. . no 

CHAPTER X 

UNDERWEAR 

Materials — Cut, Fit and Making— Chemise — Drawers — Corset- 
Covers — Nightgowns — Petticoats — Dressing-Sacques — Wrap- 
pers — Aprons. . . . . . . . . .125 

CHAPTER XI 

INFANTS' WARDROBES 

How to Dress Baby — A Simple Layette — How to make it — Caps 
and Cloaks— Nurses' Suits. ...... 140 

CHAPTER XII 

children's CLOTHES 

American Mothers — Short Clothes — Small Boys' Clothes — Dress 
for Girls — An Apron. ........ 148 

CHAPTER XIII 

DRESS TRIMMINGS 

Bias Bands — Plain Binding and French Hem -Round Piping — 
Cord-edge — Double Cord-edge — Straps and Bands — Fur Trim- 
mings — Flounces — Pleating. 157 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER XIV 

SPECIAL COSTUMES 

Riding Habits— Cycling Costumes — Bathing Suits— Dress for 
Business Women — Artistic and Reform Dress — To Dress for 

the Photographer. 167 

CHAPTER XV 

DRESS FOR HOME AND FOREIGN TRAVEL 

Dress for Home Travel — Dress for Southern Travel — Dress for 
the far East — Dress for Ocean Travel. .... 189 

CHAPTER XVI 

MOURNING 

Mourning for Widows — Mourning for a Parent, Child or Sister — 
Children's and School-girls' Mourning — Complimentary Mourn- 
ing — Second Mourning — For the Neck. . . . . 200 

CHAPTER XVII 

BRIDAL OUTFITS 

Seasonable Gowns — The Veil — Bridesmaids' Dresses — For Quiet 
Weddings — The Best Date — Brides' Traveling Dresses — The 
General Trousseau. ........ 206 

CHAPTER XVIII 

FANCY AND THEATRICAL DRESSING 

Materials for Stage Dresses — Effect of Color — Waists and Skirts 
— Some Fancy Dresses, . . . . . . .215 

CHAPTER XIX 

HOW TO BE YOUR OWN MILLINER 

Correct Taste — To Trim a Hat — How to Make a Stiff Crowned 
Hat or Bonnet — Making Drawn Bonnets or Hats — Taste in 
Colors. .......... 227 

CHAPTER XX 

THE DRESSMAKER AT HOME 

Three Methods — Preparing for the Home Dressmaker — Hints for 
Making Over Dresses. ....... 240 

CHAPTER XXI 

FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES 

Vel vet — Silk — Linen Cloth — Laces — Embroideries — Ostrich 
Feathers — Widths of Dress Fabrics. , .... 249 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXII 

THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 

In what it must consist — Darning Table and Bed Linen — The 
Linen Closet 265 

CHAPTER XXIII 

LAWS OF CORRECT DRESS 

Considered from the point of Economy — Considered from the 
point of Beauty — Dress for Slender Women — Dress for Stout 
Women — Individuality in Dress — Dress for Red Hair — Dress 
for Blonde Hair — Dress for Brown Hair — Dress for Black Hair 
— Dress for Gray Hair — Jewels — General Remarks. . , 273 

CHAPTER XXIV 

THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

Incongruities — Correct Dress for the Morning — Correct Dress for 
Teas, Matinees and Afternoon Receptions — Correct Dress for 
Dinners — Correct Dress for Lawn Parties — Correct Dress for 
Driving and Coaching — Correct Dress for Weddings and Wed- 
ding Anniversaries — Correct Dress for Dancing Parties — Cor- 
rect Dress for Mourning — Correct Dress for Servants. . 295 

CHAPTER XXV 

TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 31O 

CHAPTER XXVI 

TO CUT A BASQUE PATTERN BY MOLDING 

The Front — Back and Side-Bodies — Embellishments — The Sleeve 318 
CHAPTER XXVII 

CUTTING-OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

Introduction — Measurements — How to take Measures — Verifica- 
tion of the Measurements — Variable Measurements — Draft of 
Pattern of a Dress — Verification of the Patterns for a Body — 
Pattern for Basque — Dressing Gown — Low, Round Waist — 
Transposing Measurements — Drawers for a Woman — Drawers 
for a Girl — Princess Apron — Apron with Straps — Apron for a 
Child 325 



HOME DRESSMAKING 
A Complete Guide to Household Sewing 

CHAPTER I 
TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

TRAINING FOR HAND-SEWING — THE SEWING-ROOM — TOOLS 

FOR CUTTING THE SHEARS — TOOLS FOR SEWING TOOLS 

FOR FITTING — TOOLS FOR PRESSING 

TRAINING FOR HAND-SEWING 

When a woman attempts to make a dress, we natur- 
ally conclude she knows how to sew. Let us hope she 
has practiced running up long seams, both by hand 
and machine, that she knows how to hem, blind-stitch, 
gather, fell, and, above all, to baste. Our grand- 
mothers served their apprenticeships piecing patch- 
work together. Nothing could be a better schooling. 
There has been much said, and with good cause, against 
the waste of time and talent over patchwork. A woman, 
skillful and intelligent, spending days and weeks over 
a bedquilt, is not an ennobling thought. She might 
do something more important, do much that would 



12 TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

make her world wider and those around her more com- 
fortable, it would seem. But, for a child or young 
girl, there is no better training for the hand, the eye 
and the contriving, accurate intelligence than to neatly 
join pretty pieces of cloth into symmetrical designs. 

In later chapters will be found complete and clear 
explanations of plain sewing and the clever but inexpe- 
rienced woman will find therein many assistants to the 
proper and effective use of the needle. 

But just here we must start out with the idea that 
the dressmaker is capable of doing plain sewing. 

We would pause here, however, to comment upon the 
value of hand-training for woman. A skillful use of 
the hand is alwa5^s conducive to a well furnished 
and orderly mind. It calls into more perfect use the 
touch and the sight. It tends to make the useful also 
the beautiful. The prejudice against manual labor is 
slowl}' but surely disappearing. The little girl who 
is now being educated for any field of intellectual and 
administrative work, is not well equipped unless her 
hands have been trained to do dainty needlework and 
are skilled in other handicraft. This physical develop- 
ment along with the mental is according to nature's 
method of preserving a balance of power and a proper 
equilibrium between the brain and hands. 

THE SEWING-ROOM 

With the hands trained, the woman who would make 
dresses must furnish herself with the proper tools. To 



TOOLS FOR THE WORK 13 

begin with, she should have a sewing-room. If, in 
the economy of the house, there is no room she can 
devote exclusively to that purpose she must have one 
that is given up to that occupation for the time being. 
It is as absolutely necessary to have such a room to do 
good dressmaking as it is necessary to have a kitchen 
to cook in, a studio to paint in, a sanctum to write 
in. If it is at all possible, she should close herself up 
in it with her tools and fabrics and forbid interruption. 
To do anything well, one must give one's entire atten- 
tion, one's whole mind, to it. This is true in dress- 
making as in everything else. Another reason why 
one should liave such a room is, that all materials and 
tools may be kept there together in their places and 
just where the hand maybe put upon them the instant 
they are needed. And, when such a room is devoted 
to that purpose, pieces of fabric may be left undis- 
turbed and ready for use. If they must be gathered 
up, they are often thrown away and are missing when 
they are wished for afterward. 

This room may be furnished as simply as can be 
imagined, yet it must have two chairs, an ordinary 
cane-bottomed square chair of medium height and a 
low one. We would not recommend a rocking chair 
to sew in, but a low rattan chair without rockers is 
just the thing. A footstool is also a very convenient 
thing to have in a sewing-room. A woman who pins 
her work to her knee when she sews should have that 



14 TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

foot on a stool. This relieves the back of much bend- 
ing and back-aches are less frequent. 

TOOLS FOR CUTTING 

For cutting ample provision should be made. The 
table upon which material is laid preparatory to cut- 
ting should be perfectly smooth and of sufficient dimen- 
sions to permit the largest patterns to be laid out 
entirely. For such pieces as a trained or kilted skirt 
this is often not practicable but the worker must then 
exercise her most careful ingenuity and judgment. The 
home dressmaker is often led into the most expensive 
mistakes by cutting out on the floor or bed. We can 
not be too urgent against such a proceeding. 

Therefore in our sewing-room there must be a table 
at least four feet long and three feet wide for cutting 
out. The best table is the substantial ordinary one 
of wood, with a smooth, even surface and square 
corners. If this is not available, one of the folding 
tables of at least that size is reasonably convenient. 
They are certainly entirely satisfactory for cutting but 
a more substantial one is better for pressing, and there 
is no reason why the same table should not be used for 
both purposes. 

When working at the table, either cutting, basting 
or pressing, one should sit, not stand. When sitting 
one can easily reach across three feet of space and two 
feet on either side. This saves much tiresome bend- 



TOOLS FOR THE WORK 15 

ing of the body and wearied feet and legs at the end of 
the season of sewing. 

This table in the sewing-room will be used for all 
sorts of other purposes beside cutting out the original 
garment. But an ordinary lap-board should also be 
provided. It will often be used when cutting small 
pieces like collars and facings and when putting flounces 
or pleatings on the bottoms of skirts it will be found 
indispensable. Perhaps the most important tool in 
the sewing-room is a pair of shears. In dressmaking 
much depends in the beginning upon clean, evenly cut 
edges. In basting or stitching seams the eye is easily, 
although often unconsciously, influenced by the out- 
lined edges and where they are rough or uneven the 
seam is wavering and inaccurate. 

Clean cut and even edges also influence the stitcher 
to finish the seams in a neater manner. She will with- 
out thinking execute that part of the work with greater 
precision. 

THE SHEARS 

Long, slender and sharp blades should characterize 
the shears used. Never attempt a garment with dull, 
rough or rusty ones with a loose rivet, nor with dainty 
little embroidery scissors. Use shears of good metal 
not less than eight inches long with bent handles, with 
well sharpened ends and riveted just tight enough that 
no resistance will be noticeable when opening and 
closing them. Take care of them when they are not 
in use. Keep them from dampness and do not let 



1 6 TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

them fall as that will often impair the nicety of their 
adjusted blades. 

TOOLS FOR SEWING 

Ever}' sewing room should have a machine that is 
light running and capable of sewing from the heaviest 
to the lightest fabrics. It should be kept well oiled 
and in order. It should also be kept perfectly clean. 
Do not let it become clogged up with dust or old oil. 
A little kerosene will clean all this away, when it in 
turn must be wiped off and the machine properly oiled 
with the best machine sperm oil. It is pleasant to 
have all the attachments invented with the machine, 
but for dressmaking one must have the hemmers, the 
tuckers and the gatherer. At the side of the machine 
provide a scrap bag in which can be stowed away use- 
less pieces, and thus save the bother of picking them 
off the floor later. Two bags are not too many ; one for 
absolutely useless pieces, the other for larger scraps 
that may be found useful later on. 

There are many minor details of the sewing-room's 
furnishings which will gradually be provided and 
accumulated as the sewer prosecutes her work. But 
her sewing basket must be well stocked to commence. 
It should be a strong basket or box sufficiently large 
to meet all ordinary requirements. It must contain 
needles of all sizes and chosen from those of good 
quality. Those with egg-shaped eyes are the easiest to 
thread. They should have long taper points, as it is 
impossible to sew on stiff material with a conical-pointed 



TOOLS FOR THE WORK 17 

needle without pricking one's fingers at every stitch. 
Tn every case the needle must be large enough to draw 
the thread through the fabric without the least effort. 

There must be pins in plenty, cotton thread and spool 
silk in both white and black with a good large spool 
of coarse basting cotton. There must be an emery bag, 
which should be home made, as those bought in merchan- 
dise stores are generally filled with anything rather 
than good filings. There should be a square of hard 
white soap. A linen seam is a difficult seam to sew 
by hand or machine. If you pass the soap over it 
before commencing, all the difficulty is instantly re- 
moved. 

There must be in this basket a well fitted thimble. 
Two thimbles are even better, as it is very provoking 
to be forced to stop and hunt a thimble that has momen- 
tarily disappeared just when you most need it. They 
must exactly fit the finger. It is ver}' uncomfortable 
to work with a thimble which turns on the finger; if 
the extra space is filled with paper or rag, it renders 
the thimble too heavy and the thread is liable to catch. 

There must be a lead pencil and a good tape line and 
a pair of button-hole cutters with a gauge are a great 
convenience. Equally pleasant to have at hand are a 
sharp steel punch or chisel and a perforated bodkin for 
drawing a cord or tape through clings or hems. 

This basket should be provided with a cover to keep 
its tools free from all but ordinary dust. A piece of 
silk as long as the basket around its top and about 



1 8 TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

six inches wide makes a good cover. Join its ends and 
sew one of its edges to the basket top. Then run a 
casing in the other edge of the silk and pass a draw- 
ing-string through it. Thus the cover may be opened 
and closed at pleasure. 

A medium size leaded pincushion is extremely con- 
venient for use in pinning the work. Pinning the cloth 
to the knee is very poor policy, on account of the 
fatiguing stoop it causes. When the leaded pincushion 
is at hand, the cloth is so easily attached, and a woman 
who has become accustomed to one will never be 
without it. They are easily made, the heavy piece 
of lead being securely hidden in the sawdust used to 
fill the cushion. 

TOOLS FOR FITTING 

There is an absolute necessity for a mirror in which 
the entire figure may be surveyed. Even in fitting a 
bodice or short wrap the general effect should be the 
thing considered. Their lengths can only be decided 
correctly in reference to the entire length of the figure. 
The best mirror is one that swings in a frame. Such 
a one in a dressing-case is very convenient, and there 
are less expensive ones called easel mirrors. If these 
are beyond the means at hand, place any ordinary mirror 
on the floor at an angle Avhere a view of the entire 
figure can be obtained. The gown must harmonize 
with the wearer. In other words, you must adapt the 
materials to yourself, and this can only be done by see- 
ing yourself as others see you. 



TOOLS FOR THE WORK 19 

The next best help one can have for this purpose is 
an adjustable wire form. The forms that may be 
adjusted to correspond with neck, waist and bust meas- 
ure are few and expensive, if they are of any value at 
all, but there are skirt figures that may be bought for a 
couple of dollars — they are a capital investment. Drap- 
eries may be adjusted with the greatest ease when they 
are used. 

TOOLS FOR PRESSING 

Among the most importanttools are aflatiron and some 
means of heating it. In this day of steam radiators 
there is often no such means at hand. There have been 
many inventions given an aggrieved and credulous pub- 
lic, such as attachments to gas jets, alcohol burners, 
etc., but the best thing is a little kerosene stove. There 
is no reason why it should be dangerous ; nothing but 
the grossest carelessness makes it so, and it heats a 
flatiron in a few moments. 

Remember there is everything in the proper pressing 
of the garment. This applies to the skirt seams, the 
hems, the bodice seams and facings and to the sleeves 
as well. A good investment is a couple of press boards, 
one for skirts and a smaller one for bodices and sleeves. 
Any carpenter will make them and the cost is but a 
trifle, while the convenience will more than repay an 
even greater expenditure. A skirt board should be 
about forty-four inches long, the length of an ordinary 
skirt and nine inches wide. The sleeve board should 
be five inches in width and twenty-seven inches long. 



20 TOOLS FOR THE WORK 

Give them each at least one thickness of flannel and 
add a cotton cover. With these and a couple of hot 
flat-irons and plenty of strength, the homemade dress 
may be made a very presentable affair- 



CHAPTER II 
DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 

LININGS FACINGS — WADDING AND CANVAS EASTENINGS 

WHALEBONES AND CASINGS — SHIELDS — YOKES 

LININGS 

Those who undertake to learn the trade of dressmak- 
ing find that silesia, braid and canvas represent the A 
B C's of the art. The novice will do well to try every 
pattern or idea in the smooth, firm but inexpensive 
silesia. It is the amateur dressmaker who frequently 
makes the mistake of plunging at once into all the per- 
plexities of silks, velvets and furbelows. Such experi- 
ments are pretty sure to result disastrous!}'. She is 
liable to waste a great deal of material and to expend 
so much time and patience in several thousand times 
too many stitches that she gives up trying to sew at all. 
How much better to begin with the anatomy of the 
dress. Master the fit in the linings, which is reall}- 
essential to the successful fabrication, and then suc- 
cess awaits further along the line of experience and a 
garment is achieved of which the maker may well feel 
proud. 



22 DRESSMAKERS FINDINGS 

"But what kind of linings should we use?" do you 
ask? 

In the first place, don't use old linings. Such a 
course is not economy at all. For with linings that 
have lost their firmness and body no waist can be made 
to fit, no skirt made to hang properly. The same may 
be said of whalebones, hooks and eyes, braids and 
sometimes of buttons, although the latter can again be 
used more frequently. Yet cloth buttons are usually 
worn shiny and metal ones are tarnished. 

Have plentiful and good lining materials. Ail dress 
fabrics, except some cottons, require a foundation to 
protect them from strain ; cloths and woolens stretch, 
laces and sheer woolens tear and silks cut and split with- 
out a good under foundation. 

Silk, cambric and silesia are each in turn used. 
Each has its recommended qualities and each again is 
entirely unsuited to certain purposes. Silk linings 
are by all odds the most elegant and comfortable. To 
be sure they are a little expensive in the first outlay 
but they wear so well and are so light in weight, per- 
fect in fit and generally elegant in appearance, they are 
favored by our leading and best modistes. 

For dresses intended for general wear the soft fine 
French cambric can not be too highly recommended. 
Silesia is also an admirable lining material for almost 
any dress and for all its parts. For the waist and 
its sleeves it is unsurpassed, and for the skirts of dresses 
as well. 



DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 23 

The purpose of a dress lining is twofold. It is 
necessary as a neat finish and as a foundation. Some 
ladies will tell you they use good, perhaps the best 
linings for the waist, not quite so good for the sleeves, 
and that anything Avill do for the skirt of a dress. These 
are mistaken economies. There is just as much strain 
and wear on the sleeves of a dress as upon the waist and 
the linings should be the same. The only difference 
which may be made is for the skirt, where a lighter 
and less strong material can be used, as there it is only 
the neat finish and protection, and really no strain 
upon it. 

FACINGS 

Beside the linings proper for skirts there are several 
accessories which must be provided, that must be 
classed with them. The facing for skirts comes first 
among them. There is quite a diversity of opinion 
as to which is preferable of some three or four which 
are all in general use. 

Perhaps we are safe in saying a majority of profes- 
sional dressmakers face their skirts first with cross- 
barred crinoline, afterward covering it with alpaca. 
This certainly makes a soft finish to the skirt but also 
one which is thick and clumsy and one which is extreme- 
ly addicted to gathering and holding dust. Equally 
objectionable for the same reason is the use of canvas 
covered with alpaca. And there is yet another objec- 
tion we may urge, and that is such facings do not 



24 DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 

wear well and are very hard upon the shoes of the 
wearer. 

Ladies who have their skirts finished in this manner 
find themselves in a very short time forced to trim off 
rags and tatters or look untidy with them hanging 
around their feet, and, if the dress is at all durable, the 
facing must be renewed at least twice during its exist- 
ence. Very much better, for durabilit)^, cleanliness 
and soft finish is the cotton padding. When it is used, 
the work of facing a skirt is greatly simplified, it being 
easily put on as will appear in our extended directions 
for facing a skirt in a following chapter. 

Every skirt must be finished with a braid or a vel- 
veteen band. Pleated braids are sometimes used when 
a little extra finish is required, but when an ordinary 
braid is used it should be one of the best and then it 
will not be a narrow one, but wide enough to cover all 
edges. 

WADDING AND CANVAS 

Findings for the waists of dresses are more complex. 
First is the lining proper, which as we have suggested be- 
fore should be either silesia, cambric or silk. Whichever 
is used, let it be the color of the dress unless it be a black 
dress. Black lining should never be used for waist or 
sleeves and dark gra3MS better for black skirts too, still 
black may be sometimes employed for them. It is 
quite likely to soil the underwear. There are many 
good silesias woven black on one side and dark gray 



DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 25 

on the other, which will be found useful for some pur- 
poses. 

There are but few women — or men either — whose 
forms do not require some "building up". Many dress- 
makers place a laj^er of wadding between the lining 
and the dress fabric reaching from the shoulders to the 
top of the darts. This certainly gives a smoothness 
over the bust, that is desirable, still it greatly increases 
the warmth. One thickness of light quality of canvas 
accomplishes the same end and is cooler. The tops 
of the sleeves, from the shoulder to the elbow should 
be given the same treatment when the form is not 
plump and bones make unevennesses. When the form 
is inclined to be too large below the waist, one thick- 
ness of canvas placed between the lining and the 
dress fabric below the tops of the darts assists in 
keeping a basque or polonaise in shape. 

FASTENINGS 

When buttons are used, the button-holes are a seri- 
ous question for the dressmaker and must be neatly 
worked with good twist, or the garment is not beautiful 
even when handsome fabrics are used. In Chapter IX. 
will be found full instructions concerning button-holes. 
When hooks and ej^es are used for closing, the ama- 
teur dressmaker should ask for bent hooks, as those 
slightly bent near the point stay fastened. Otherwise 
it is necessaray to sew them on alternately, which makes 
them very inconvenient for closing. Small rings 
used instead of eyes on the outer part of dress waists 



26 DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 

should be covered with silk in button-hole stitches. 
The very large hooks and eyes used as cloak and wrap 
fastenings are also excellent for keeping up a heavy 
skirt : four of the hooks being set on the waist just 
below the belt, — two on the seam joining the back and 
side-forms and one on each under-arm seam ; the eyes 
are placed on the skirt band to correspond and the 
wearer hooks them before fastening the inside belt of 
her dress. 

WHALEBONES AND CASINGS 

The use of whalebones is an important item to con- 
sider. Most ladies require every seam stayed. If the 
seams were curved absolutely perfectly it would not 
be necessary, but this art is seldom encountered. 

When stays are needed, use the best wht^lebones 
only. Nothing else wears so well nor gives the proper 
elasticity. Horn, tin, steel and rubber have all been 
used, and either rust, break or twist unpleasantly. 

Galloon must be provided for casings in which to 
run the stays. Casings of lining material make clumsy 
seams. 

Ribbon for binding the edges of the waist and sleeves 
seams finish the waist in the most acceptable manner. 
With loops to go in each armseye of the same by which 
to hang up the waist, a neat finish is given. However, 
this ribbon binding is repudiated by some ladies who 
delight in the snuggest fits. They insist the binding of 
edges draws the seams and demand rather they shall 
be loosely top sewed and pressed. 



DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 27 

In any case a sufficient length of binding tor an 
inside belt must be provided to attach at the back 
seams at the waist-line to take the strain off the front. 
It is usually fastened in front by medium sized hooks 
and eyes. 

SHIELDS 

Dress shields must be provided, large ones in the 
armseyes, and ladies who perspire profusely use small 
ones in the sleeves at the elbow curve. 

Some ladies abominate cheap shields for dresses. 
They buy the best and take them out at intervals and 
wash them in clean soap suds. This is not a bad idea. 
It is also good practice to purchase cheaper ones and 
change then often. None are perfect and neatness 
requires they should be changed as soon as the slightest 
odor can be detected. In any case it is good policy 
to buy shields by the half dozen pair and so have them 
always at hand. 

A RESUME 

For a medium sized woman's ordinary costume, con- 
sisting of a walking length skirt and a basque with 
coat sleeves, the following findings will be found neces- 
sary : If silesia is used five and one-half yards for the 
skirt, one and one-half yards for the waist and one yard 
for the sleeves, or a total of eight yards. If ordinary 
silk is used ten yards will be found sufficient. For the 
skirt facing one yard of canvas, with one yard of alpaca, 
or one yard of padding alone, if the latter is preferred. 

Add to these three long whalebones, one boltofbraid, 



28 DRESSMAKERS' FINDINGS 

one bolt of ribbon to bind seams, one piece of galloon 
for whalebone casings, one card of hooks and eyes or 
one and one-half dozen of medium sized button, two 
spools of twist, one of sewing silk and one spool of 
basting cotton. 

The findings required for jackets and outside wraps 
of all kinds will be fully treated in chapters devoted 
to such garments. 

To conclude and at the same time be explicit we 
would say do not buy cheap findings. They do not 
pay. Do not use old linings or whalebones. It is 
false economy. Findings do not show in one sense of the 
word, but they tell every time in wear and general 
comfort. 

YOKES 

A word as to keeping the whole gown in shape and 
doing away with ' closet wrinkles. " Buy a wooden or 
wire yoke such as tailors use for suspending coats, 
and after turning the dress wrong side out fasten the 
waistband and slip the whole over the yoke. It spreads 
the folds of the drapery, preventing them from being 
crushed into an unshapely mass, and keeps the foun- 
dation from stretching down at the seams. These 
yokes are inexpensive, and may be found at any dry- 
goods store. 



CHAPTER III 
HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 

THE MODERN GORED SKIRT — THE FOUNDATION SKIRT SKIRT 

DRAPERIES THE KILT SKIRT THE TRAINED SKIRT REEDS 

THE MODERN GORED SKIRT 

The size and st3de of skirts vary with each edict of 
fashion. However, tliere are two general styles upon 
which the changes are rung, the short walking skirt 
and the trained skirt. Walking skirts may be divided 
into the round full skirt and the gored skirt ; the former 
is a mere matter of straight seams, a hem, and a gathered 
top on a band, tliat anyone can make. But the shapely 
gored skirt is a different thing. 

The modern gored skirt is the work of an artist. 
Some one has said "the making of one is like singing 
an old ballad. A novice may sing a grand operatic aria 
but it takes a genius to sing 'Comin' thro' the Rye,' 
and to make a gored skirt. Both are most simpte in 
design but most difficult of construction." 

There are three things which go to make a perfect 

skirt ; first an accurate cut, second a neat finish and 

third a thorough pressing. 

29 



30 



HOJV TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 



The walking skirt most used is rather narrow in its 
proportions. The only skirt less ample was the one 
which showed its back breadth gored at the top to fit 
as close as the present front and side-gores do. 

Z^Inches. 7 Inches. 18 Fnches. 





< 

CD 



18 Inches. 



THE FOUNDATION SKIRT 

Every skirt should be made with a perfectly fitted 
foundation. It should be of easy walking length, prop- 
erly gored and not too wide. It is usually cut with 
one front-gore, two side-gores and a straight back 
breadth. For a lady of medium size who will measure 
twenty-four inches around the waist the following are 
the correct measurements for each part. The front 
gore will be fifteen inches wide at the top with a dart 
two inches wide allowed for on each side of the mid- 



HOU^ TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 31 

die of the front. It is forty inches in length in front 
but is sloped to forty-one inches in length at the sides 
and at the bottom is twenty-two inches wide. The side- 
gores are each forty-one inches in length at their front 
sides and forty-two where they are joined to their back 
breadth. They are seven inches wide at the top with 
two inches allowed for darts and are gracefully curved 
to sixteen inches in width at the bottom. The back is 
just one yard in width its entire length, which is forty- 
two at its sides sloping to forty-four inches in the 
middle. When quarter-inch-wide seams are taken, 
the back has all its fulness gathered into five inches, 
which is the correct proportion. 

For home dressmakers it is much the best plan to 
use a good pattern for this skirt, as no rule given in 
figures can explain the graceful curves which each gore 
should show to give the best effect. A skirt that hangs 
ill is always dowdy looking. No matter how elabor- 
ately draped or trimmed, a badly shaped foundation 
skirt ruins all. 

The materials used for the foundation skirt vary with 
the fabrics employed for drapery. We will for exam- 
ple suppose we require one for a dress of cashmere, 
serge, cloth or silk. In which case the skirt should 
be of lining silk the same color or a shade harmonizing 
with it. However, good silk linings (poor ones are 
an abomination) are expensive, and there are other 
materials which make admirable linings. By some 
sateen and silesia are preferred and the latter cannot be 



32 HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 

too highly recommended except in the matter of weight. 
It is always heavier than any other skirt lining, Yet 
it is not too weighty. French cambric is also an excel- 
lent material for skirts. 

Whatever the material chosen, cut the front and back 
breadths on a lengthwise fold of the goods and the side- 
gores with their front edges on straight edges of it, 

The seams of this foundation skirt are of course 
sewed up separately from the outside or draped portions. 
They may be sewed so that the smooth sides of the 
seams are on the underside of the skirt and their rough 
edges next the draperies. The facings in that case should 
all be cut to fit the skirt after its seams are closed. 

For heavy skirts it is better to slash the front-gore 
for four inches at least on its lower edge to give greater 
freedom in walking. This is a great saving to shoes, 
whose leather over the instep is otherwise often worn 
through while the other parts are intact. A tight braid 
is very wearing in that respect. 

The foundation of most skirts is faced on the upper 
side under the draperies, four inches with material of 
the drapery. This facing is laid on each portion of the 
skirt with its upper edge turned under and stitched down 
on the lining, before the skirt seams are sewed. Begin 
to sew each seam (and there will be four in all) at the 
top, allowing all unevenness to fall at the bottom. Be 
careful not to stretch any bias edges. If you are an 
entire novice it is the best plan to both pin and baste the 
seams before stitching them. It will often save hours 



I/Of!^ TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 33 

of worry and ripping. When the seams are stitched, 
press each one down flat, turning them alwa3S toward 
the back, this method is better than laying the seams 
open. In either case the edges should be overcast or 
top-sewed, and thoroughly pressed, with a warm iron. 

Then lay the skirt folded down the middle at the 
front and back portions so that the corresponding 
seams are together, on a table. Let them be even at 
the top, and then pare off any unevenness at the bottom. 

The matter of inside facing is a very important one 
and also one upon which there is almost as much 
diversity of opinion as there are dressmakers. How- 
ever, when we resolve the question down to what is 
really required, it is a simple thing to decide how to 
face your walking skirts. A facing is required to 
neatly finish the bottom of a skirt, and a facing is 
required to obviate any luipleasant clinging about the 
limbs when walking. What will best cover both 
requirements is what we want. 

Some dressmakers contend that this is, first a five- 
inch piece of crinoline or canvas and tlien a piece of 
alpaca. Another will demand a hem lined for twelve 
inches with horse hair cloth, still another demands 
canvas or buckram in like width. In most things the 
simplest way is the best way, and we believe it is 
especially true in putting on a skirt facing. 

Much practice and experience convince us that skirt 
padding used alone is the best thing and it certainly 
is the cheapest. In some localities this material is 



34 HO]V TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 

called by other names. But it is a moderate weight fab- 
ric glazed on one side and likecanton flannel on the other. 
It possesses sufficient stiffness but at the same time 
it is pliable and does not render even the lightest skirt 
ungraceful. It is also a fabric which sheds the dust, 
and when it is required may be wiped off with a damp 
cloth. Again, its durability is a great recommenda- 
tion: it will last as long as any skirt. 

The neatest manner of putting on a facing is, after the 
lower edge of the skirt has been properly pared, tocut the 
facing eight inches deep and to fit it exactly. Then 
seam the skirt and facing's lower edges together on the 
inside and turn. The upper edge of the facing should 
be cut in fine notches and just below them stitch it 
down on the skirt lining. Then finish the smooth 
edge with the customary braid. 

Always use the best braid, it receives the hardest 
usage of any portion of the skirt. It should be dipped 
in water and allowed to thoroughly dry before it is 
stitched on the skirt. Otherwise, even the "warranted 
not to shrink" braid will draw up on the skirt founda- 
tion. 

The above directions are ample for finishing the bot- 
tom of a skirt when you have it cut over a perfect pat- 
tern and the padding is used. When a skirt design is 
used that has not the proper spring given its gores, other 
resources must be called upon. Every woman knows 
how disagreeable it is to walk, when at every step the 
foot is pulled back by the skirt. This is obviated by 



HOll' TO MAKE DRESS SK/RTS 35 

twice slashing for four inches the foot of the skirt's 
front-gore and covering the slashes with pleating. 

Some dainty imported dresses for wear in the house 
are not bound with braid, but are simply faced with 
silk. Attached to this facing inside the skirt is a 
pinked frill of silk instead of the»lace balayeuse some- 
times formerly employed. 

To protect the extreme lower edges of skirts which 
are of extra length, many expedients are resorted 
to. At the shops many new"protectors" are found and 
at once recall those used for a similar purpose some years 
ago. The new ones, of course, have the advantage of all 
the improvements of progression. Several kinds are of 
buckram, which is widely bound with rubber cloth and 
either pleated to a binding which curves the protector to 
the shape of the train, or is sewed to a j^oke-like piece 
shaped like the bottom of the skirt at the back. These 
protectors extend across the sweep of the skirt only. 
Others, however, are in the nature of a facing. The fac- 
ing material is a strip of blacksilesia orserge, and is long 
enough to pass completely round the skirt foundation. 
For a sufficient distance to extend around the sweep 
at the back this facing is again faced with a stirp of 
rubber cloth securely stitched on, and as this comes 
next the surface on which one is walking, it prevents 
the edges of the skirt and its foundation becoming 
worn, soiled or damp. 

A braid is .also supplied which has a rubber strip 
Stitched to it for a sufficient portion of its length to 



36 



JJOIF TO MAKE DRESS SKIJRTS 



protect the sweep of the skirt ; and folded rubber strips, 
which look like pipings, are made to extend entirely 
round the skirt and are very satisfactory in the capac- 
ity of protector. Most of these protectors may be found 
in gray, brown and black. 

When the lower edge of 
the foundation skirt is 
completed, it should also 
be finished at the top be- 
fore its draperies are ad 
justed. A placket-opening 
must be provided either at 
the back or at one side. 
This is done by making an 
opening either in a seam or 
by cutting the material the 
depth of ten inches from the 
top. Face the upper or 
INSIDE OF FINISHED SKIRT Overlapping side with a 
two-inch-widestrip of the material of the draperies. Then 
sew in a seam to the opposite side a double flap of the 
same material and let it extend under the faced side, 
tacking it fast at its lower end to the opposite facing. 
A pocket should then be put in along the second 
right-side seam. It may be made of either silk or siiesia 
and must be faced with the material of the dress each 
side of its opening. 

When these preliminaries are completed the entire 
skirt must be most thoroughly pressed on the long skirt 
board with a hot iron. 




HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 37 

The adjustment of the foundation skirt, about the 
hips of a small woman is comparatively a simple 
matter. The darts in the front and in the side-gores 
are stitched and the fulness at the back is held in 
gathers. 

The band of the required size ma)' be added in one 
of two ways. First, the edge of the band may be 
basted on the under or wrong side of the skirt, tacking 
the middle of the band to the middle of the front and the 
tops of the seams on either side at corresponding dis- 
tances on the band. Then tr}' on the skirt, and satisfy 
yourself that it hangs perfectly even and easy. The re- 
mainder of the work will be done on the machine, 
which is difficult to rip, consequently all changes 
should be made now. When satisfied, stitch the band 
and the upper edge of the skirt together. Then turn 
over the band with the seam inside and stitch it down 
on the skirt. This process does away with all hand 
sewing and is a very neat finish. 

The second manner of finishing the top of the skirt 
with a band, is to first make the band of the required 
size. (A piece of belting may be used.) Then turn 
under the edge of the skirt a quarter of an inch, secur- 
ing it with a running stitch. Then tack the middle of 
the front and the seams to the band in their respective 
positions and lay the fulness of the back in pleats or 
gathers. After which fell the band to the skirt edge by 
hand with a strong thread. 



38 



HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 




To sew the gathered portion to 
the belt, see illustration. The 
portions sewed to the belt, with a 
close over-casting stitch, are the 
stitches of the gathering them- 
selves, the intervals between them 

Sewing Skirt Gathers Supplying the deep pleatS which 

are secured in place by a row of strong stitches 
about one-half inch below the line of gathering. 
When there is a great deal of material to gather into 
a small compass, the gathering stitch has to be dis- 
carded, the intervals between the stitches being too 
wide to sew across. Then the material is evenly 
pleated up and sewed as pleated to the belt, shown in 
the uncompleted portion. The advantage of this gath- 
ering over real pleats is that the gathered pleats are 
upright, and the material below hangs freely, while 
pleats are sewed flatly into the belt and confine the 
material more. 

For stouter women a skirt band mars the fit of the 
bodice worn over it, and it is a good practice to face 
the entire top of the skirt, gathering the fulness of the 
back on tapes and so use no band at all. 

SKIRT DRAPERIES 

Before the draperies are added, the best skirts are 
given a pleating of the dress material. This pleating 
should be five or six inches wide and should be stitched 
fast to the upper side of the foundation skirt. 



HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 



39 



The draperies of skirts are so varied and often so 
complex, according as fashion dictates, only general- 
ities can be considered in this work. 

It requires great skill to cut skirt draperies without a 
pattern. Only experienced dressmakers should attempt 
it. To do so generally results in much worry and a 
waste of material. When it is attempted, the draper- 
ies should be first cut in soft paper or some cheap 
cloth, and this used as a guide in cutting the more 
expensive dress fabric. 

When the draperies are cut, stitch all the breadths 
together and press the seams. Then turn up the lower 
edge in a medium sized hem. For bordered materials, 
silk and cotton fabrics, it is best to secure this hem 
with a fine blind stitching, but cloths and suitings 
may often be enhanced by machine stitching the hem. 
Unless the material is heavy and firm in quality it Is 
best to stiffen this hem with crinoline before stitching. 

The edge of draperies are of- 
ten best finished by a false hem 
of the foundation material, (C) 
about six inches wide, (B) after 
having overcast an interlining 
muslin (A) to the lower edge of 
the skirt. The false hem being 
finished as illustrated, place 
A FALSE HEM ^raid at the lower edge, not in 

the ordinary binding style, doubled in half and conceal- 




40 HOJV TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 

ing the whole edge, but sewed inside the skirt and left 
quite fiat. 

For cloths and other heavy woolens the tailor hem 
makes the neatest finish. 

The stitches of the tailor hem are invisible from the 
right side. Thin paste is employed to make the halves 
of the hem adhere together, and to facilitate flattening 
in with the iron. Three inches from the edge tack a 
straight line which is to be the edge of the skirt. Have 
the paste and a hot iron at hand. Apply the paste 
inside with a brvish, not too thickly, where the hem is 
to bend over, on the three inches below the tacking. 
As you paste, turn over the hem at the tacking, and 
iron it flat and smooth. Tack down the hem for greater 
safety, and then hem it invisibly, passing the needle 
only half through the cloth, so that no vestige of the 
stitch appears on the right side. Now remove the tack- 
ing and iron a second time. Your hem in spite of the 
thickness of the cloth, should be perfectly fiat, and 
beautifully smooth and even. Sew with silk of the 
cloth color, not cotton. The silk must be strong and 
of excellent quality, as the constant damping necessary 
in tailoring injures the color of cheap silk, which is 
also not strong enough to hem and stitch thick cloth. 

When a skirt or tunic is edged with one or more rows 
of stitching, the tailor hem is not necessary, although 
the pasting and ironing are advisable before the hem 
is put under the machine to be stitched. 

When this hem has been carefully pressed, turn 



no IF TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 41 

under half an inch at the top of the draperies and fell 
them into place on the foundation skirt, at the waist. 
Cover this edge with a fiat galloon or braid. 

Now comes into use the skirt stand. It is as neces- 
sary as the sewing machine; it is a comfort and a con- 
venience ; it facilitates the work and much better results 
can be produced by arranging the draperies and sew- 
ing them into place while the foundation skirt is on the 
stand. Draping is too changeable in style to be treated 
at length here. It is ornamental and must be an expres- 
sion of the existing fashion and the taste of the wearer. 

To finish the skirt, along the belt, tack on two braid 
loops by which to hang up the skirt. Use two hooks 
and eyes to close the waistband and add two large 
hooks to correspond with two large eyes placed on the 
bodice at the waist-line to join the two. 

THE KILT SKIRT 

The kilt skirt is but a variety of the draped skirt. 
It is made with a foundation as is the gored skirt. 
The same proportions prevail as are mentioned for it. 
The kilted or pleated portion, is not difficult to adjust 
if two simple rules are strictly followed. These rules 
are first, the outer edge of each pleat must be folded 
its entire length along the straight thread of tlie cloth ; 
second, each pleat must be laid to hang in a straight 
line from the waist to the bottom of the skirt. 

At first glance many women would declare this to 
be impossible but it is not. The easiest way to accom- 
plish these results is to make the foundation skirt as 



42 I/OJy TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 

directed in the preceeding pages. Finish it complete 
with an upper facing of the dress material and the usual 
under-facing, braid and waistband. Then put it on 
the skirt stand. Prepare the straight breadths to be 
kilted by sewing and pressing the seams, joining the 
breadths and finishing the lower edge with a hem, 
machine or blind stitched. Enough breadths muSt be 
provided to make the portion to be pleated three times 
as wide as the bottom of the foundation skirt. Then 
divide the breadths at the hem into spaces of about 
five inches and crease the goods the length of the 
skirt each five inches apart. This crease will be the 
outside fold of the pleat. These creases may be basted 
with a thread their entire length. 

Pin all the pleats into position round the bottom of 
the foundation skirt and draw the creased edge of each 
up to the waist-line, so it is in straight line and the 
extra width will arrange itself into an easy graceful pleat 
underneath. When this has been done all around the 
skirt baste the pleats securely and remove the kilted 
drapery. Press it on the under side. Then take tape of 
medium width and tack one length to the under crease 
of the pleats about nine inches below the waist-line 
and another about eighteen inches above the bottom. 
The pressing and tapes will hold the pleats in posi- 
tion permanently. When it has been done, again put 
it on the skirt stand over the foundation skirt and fell 
it on to the latter, at the waist-line. 

Tf any ornamentation of stitching, braid or embroid- 



HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 43 

ery is given the skirt, it must be done before the 
pleats are laid. 

For some kilt skirts the foundation skirt is omitted 
but they can not be made to wear satisfactorily or to 
look so well even in the beginning. An ordinary skirt 
braid tacked on flat to the under-side of the pleated 
portion, so that its edge extends only just below the 
hem will protect the edge of that hem. 

TRAINED SKIRTS 

A pattern must be provided when a trained skirt is 
to be made and when it has been cut, the making is 
an art in itself. It must be lined with a material to 
correspond with the fabric employed for the trained 
skirt. That is with silk of a contrasting or harmon- 
izing color. Nothing but the neatest finish of the 
under-side of a trained skirt will be satisfactory, as it 
is liable to become visible at any moment. 

For trains made of heav}' silk or woolen materials, 
no extra stiffening is required, but for soft silks, soft 
crinoline may be used as an interlining to give it the 
requisite body. However, it should be used with the 
greatest discrimination, as the soft train is in the best 
taste and an undesirable stringiness is all we wish to 
avoid. 

Tapes must be adjusted on the under-side to draw the 
front and sides back into their proper places, as well as 
to hold the fulness of tlie back together. Our illus- 
tation on page 36 shows this finish. 



44 



HO IV TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 




THE BALAYEUSE 

The balayeiise is a flounce sewed under the edge of the 
skirt, instead of above it. It can be sewed to the skirt 
itself, or to a band which is then sewed to the skirt. 

A little time ago the 
white halayeiise was uni- 
versally worn indoors, 
but of late this has been 
superseded by the 
flounce of taffeta or any 
soft silk, cut on the 
straight or the cross, and 
TO MAKE THE BALAYEUSE pleated or gathered on 

to the hem. Dressmakers should learn how to set a 
balayeusc well, as it is never entirely put aside, and has 
lengthened periods of great popularity. 

REEDS 

Extenders, or bustles come and go at Fashion's 
pleasure. There are ladies, however, who are very 
flat in the back below the waist-line and it is an improve- 
ment for them to always use one reed or steel in the 
skirt about ten inches below the waist-line. A casing 
must then be run as indicated by A, B, (See illustra- 
tion page 30, ) through which the reed is passed. At its 
ends on either side a tape must be fastened and when 
tied the reed is distended and the back drawn together. 
Trained skirts seldom require this reed. 

There are a few most important points it seems well 



HOW TO MAKE DRESS SKIRTS 45 

to recall more briefly, in order to fix them more firmly 
in the mind. 

I St, that you should pin or tack together the breadths 
of the skirt, at the top, before you begin, that you may 
not chance to put in more gores on one side than the 
other (if there are gores), or find that the back-breadth 
comes to one side. 

2d, that you should, while thus arranging the breadths, 
look very carefully that no one is turned wrong s ide 
out, if there are two sides ; or, if figured, with the pat- 
tern upside down, 

3d, that, as the uppermost edge takes up the most, 
as your work lies over your finger, and as the cut edge 
stretches more than the selvage, you should, pin from 
top to bottom, before you begin to join them, the 
breadth on which you are employed. This is the only 
sure way of avoiding puckering. 

4th, that you should, as often as possible, begin your 
run at the top, that, if there is any left over, it may 
go off at the bottom, where it is of the least conse- 
quence. You can do this in every case but when you 
have to join a cut edge and a selvage, and then you 
must begin at the bottom, in order to have the selvage 
uppermost. 

5th, that you must remem.ber that gored skirts hang 
lower at the bottom of the gores than either before or 
behind, and that the first turning in of the hem should 
be, therefore, laid rather deeper at the sides of the 
skirt. 



46 MO IV TO MAKE D^E.^S SKIRTS 

6th, that you should make your fastenings so good 
that the dress may wear out before they give way. 
This is particularly important with regard to the pocket- 
holes and the placket opening, which should be well 
secured by stitching, or a bar at the turn. It is very 
trying to a lady to find her skirt slit down behind, the 
first time she slips her gown over her head, or her 
pocket-hole give wa}' before she has put her hand into 
it half a dozen times. 



CHAPTER IV 
HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

AN ORDINARY BASQUE THF, PATTERN FIRST STEP IN MAK- 
ING — BASTING THE LINING FITTING THE LINING — FIT- 
TING THE BASQUE CUTTING OUT STRIPES AND PLAIDS 

STITCHING SEAMS — FINISHING SEAMS — PRESSING SEAMS — 
FINISHING CLOSING EDGES. 

AN ORDINARY BASQUE 

The best advice to be offered a beginner in dress- 
making is to practice on round waists. Thej' are not 
so difficult to fit. The proper adjustment of darts and 
seams extending only to the waist-line, is not perplex- 
ing. The proper cutting and fitting of its collar and 
sleeves need not drive her to desperation. However, 
in this instance time and space will not be devoted 
to them alone as the hints on basques properly include 
round waists. 

THE PATTERN 

Few ladies have the time or inclination to learn a 
good system of dress cutting, consequently they must 
depend usually upon patterns of greater or less excel- 

47 



48 HO]V TO MAKE A BASQUE 

ence. A very good pattern ma}' be secured by going to a 
first-class dressmaker and having a basque cut, insisting 
upon a perfect fit. This may cost $5, but the pattern 
you may cut from it will cost only a little care. 

Again there are plenty of teachers of systems who 
will cut and fit a lining which will ever after serve 
as a pattern. However, there are many sewers who 
can not afford to pursue this course and for them there 
are the tissue paper patterns. These are cut to fit 
perfect forms and but few women possess them. The 
same difficulty appears when marked waist linings are 
used. These linings may be purchased by the 3'ard, 
on which is traced the entire waist and it can soon be 
cut out and basted together and alterations made in it. 
If the latter are numerous, when a perfect fit has been 
obtained, cut a pattern from it for future use and cut 
a new lining. 

THE FIRST STEP IN MAKING 

The first step in making a basque is to lay out the 
lining smooth on the table. On this lay the pattern. 
An economical cutter will lay out the entire pattern 
before cutting one piece. In laying on the pattern the 
grain of the cloth must be carefully considered. The 
perfect fit of the basque, sleeve, or collar depends 
greatly upon the weave being just as indicated by the 
pattern. Never attempt to economize by twisting the 
pattern into spaces to fit the piece of lining. 



How TO MAKE A BASQUE 49 




HOW TO LAY ON A BASQUE PATTERN 



50 HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

The preceding illustration gives the best manner of 
laying a basque pattern on the cloth, forty inches wide. 
Pin each piece securely in position as soon as they are 
all arranged. Then with the sharp shears cut them out 
with perfectl}' smooth edges. Mark with a pencil any 
perforations or notches in the pattern. 

When this lining has been cut out, the next step 
is to carefully baste the pieces together, as the mate- 
rial of the dress proper should not be cut until the lining 
has been carefully and perfectly fitted. 

BASTING THE LINING 

Basting is the foundation of good dressmaking. Its 
importance can not be too highly appreciated. Prob- 
ably only one dressmaker in ten can baste a basque 
properly. The first rule is, do not be afraid of stitches. 
Run a basting thread along the waist-line of each piece, 
first. In joining the different parts of the basque — of 
which there are generally eight — always begin to baste at 
the waist-line. This will prevent the the basque from 
being lop-sided. First join the sidebody to the back. 
Begin at the waist-line and sew down and again sew 
from the waist up. Be very careful in handling the 
sidebody not to stretch its edges. Join the under-arm 
gore to the front by beginning again at the waist-line 
and basting first down and then up. Join the side- 
body and under-arm gore, proceeding in the same man- 
ner. 

The curves of the darts in the front of a basque in 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 51 

themselves show the artist, therefore, when you have a 
pattern 3'ou will use at all, adhere closel}' to the lines 
indicating the darts. If it is necessary to make alter- 
ations to secure a perfect fit make them in some seam, 
never change the darts. The darts should be joined at 
the waist-line and basted down and then up as are the 
seams. 

Join the backs together in the same manner and then 
close the shoulder seams. Fasten all basting threads 
tight enough to stand fitting. Before fitting if the 
lining does not seem entirely firm run a basting thread 
along the edges of the neck and armseyes. 

FITTING THE LINING 

Now you are ready for the fitting. Much depends 
upon the manner of underclothes worn. Some women 
wear such shocking underwear, misfitted corsets and 
so many knots and bunches of gathers, no one could 
make the modern dress fit over them. Well fitted cor- 
sets, a smooth vest or corset-cover will greatly assist 
in a perfect fit. 

Put on the basted basque with the edges of the seams 
outside, pinning the fronts together, not over each other. 
The novice in fitting must not grow wearied easily. 
She will probably have to put on and take off the gar- 
ment eight or ten times. 

There are several sacred seams of a basque in which 
alterations should never be made. First the darts 
should never be touched and second the seams joining 



52 HOJV TO MAKE A BASQUE 

the sidebodies to the back. These in a good pattern 
are given perfect curves and to change them a hair's 
breadth is fatal to the gracefulness of the basque. Some 
dressm.akers hold the same regarding the middle-back 
seam. Unless the form to be fitted is unusually abnor- 
mal, all alterations can be made in the under-arm and 
shoulder seams. The curve of the fronts may also be 
made to conform to the figure's outlines. 

When the basque is pinned on, if there are wrinkles, 
work them out into the shoulder and under-arm seams 
if possible. If the back wrinkles between the should- 
ers, it is too long. Loosen the shoulder seams and 
take up the length there. If it wrinkles at the waist 
loosen part of the under-arm seam and let them escape 
there. Wrinkles also come from an insufficiency of 
notches. Have plenty along the sides of the seams at 
the waist-line and cut them as deep as possible with- 
out cutting the threads of the stitching. 

When the figure fitted is slightly stooped or round 
shouldered, which often occurs, the curves at the top 
of the back pieces must be omitted and the neck there 
be cut straight across to prevent the collar drawing 
out from the neck. In such case the curve of the 
fronts around the arm must be altered to allow a free- 
dom for the arm. 

In fitting the lining allow it to be at least one-half 
inch too long at the waist-line. This may be laid in 
a pleat while it alone is being fitted but must be 
arranged in fine gathers along the seams when the lin- 



HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 53 

ing is laid on the dress fabric, as is shown by fine lines 
in the space between T and B, shown in the illustra- 
tion on page 54. 

Alterations should be made with the utmost care. 
Very often the shape and style are ruined in making 
them. Remember that in taking in a seam, an-eighth of 
an inch is frequently sufficient whereas if a half inch is 
made new troubles are produced. Patience must be 
used to strike that happy medium of correction that 
lies between perfectness and utter ruin. 

FITTING THE BASQUE 

When the lining has been fitted, trim off even all 
edges of one-half of it, before taking out the bastings. 
Then rip the entire basque apart and cut the second 
half to exactly correspond with the first or trimmed 
half. It is exceedingly risky to fit and trim either side 
independently of the other. 

There are very few forms but require some padding 
into perfect shape. Perhaps it is onl}' a little over the 
bust, perhaps a hoUowness under the arms or over the 
collarbones must be filled in. Wherever it is required 
to give a smooth surface, baste cotton-batting into place 
on the lining, with its edges uneven, before the lining 
is laid on the outside dress material. 

Afterward lay each piece of the lining on the out- 
side with the cotton-batting between. It will be found 
economical to lay all the lining pieces on before bast- 
ting or cutting any one portion. In laying the lining 
on the outside material attention must be given to the 



54 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 



grain of the cloth. The threads of the lengthwise 
weave of one should correspond exactly with those of 
the other. If this is not done the bodice is likely to 
twist to one side or the other. 

When this has been done, run a thread basting them 
together at the waist, the line marked L. in the illus- 
tration. Then ran a line of basting from the top of 
each front dart straight to the lower edge of the basque, 
holding in the extra length of the lining in fine gathers. 




SHOWING GATHERS IN LINING 

There are tricks in basting the lining and dress fab- 
ric together peculiar to different workers, all agree, how- 
ever, in basting tailor-fashion on the table, because it 
is the simplest. Stitch the dress goods well and baste 
through the dotted lines, keeping the lining easy all 
over but not full any place except between the lines T 
and B. This easy allowance provides for the strain in 
wearing. 



no IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 55 

To baste the front, run first the basting line down 
the middle of the darts, then along the lines T and B. 
From the line B to the bottom of the basque, pin the 
lining straight but do not stretch it. In basting the 
remainder of the fronts follow the dotted lines to the 
hair's width, making the stitch short on the dress fab- 
ric and long on the lining. Be careful in taking up the 
fulness between the lines T and B not to pleat it down. 
It must be equally divided and taken up more as gathers 
or shirring than as pleats. It is usual to have a little 
more of this fulness above the line L than below it. The 
space between T and B should be about three inches. 

The same rules should prevail for the other portions. 
The material for the sidebodies should not be stretched 
as it is partially bias and if pulled, will wrinkle when 
made up. 

When all the lining pieces have been basted onto 
the outside, carefully cut them out of the cloth with 
even edges. 

That done, baste, using No. 60 cotton. Baste close 
and baste on the table — never in your lap. Many 
women, and among that number are those who profess 
to understand the business, baste over their fingers. 
The result is ruinous, for that makes the upper piece 
shorter than the under and the garment becomes lop- 
sided. To repeat former advice, don't sew anything 
over your finger. 

In joining the six gores of the basque together, remem- 
ber to begin all the basting at the waist-line and sew 



56 HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

down to the bottom, and then return to the waist-line 
and baste to the top. This will prevent the garment 
from being lop-sided. In a basque properly made the 
basting of all seams will run just inside or just out- 
side the line of stitching. This avoids the possibility 
of catching the basting thread in the stitching and of 
breaking the thread used in stitching when the bast- 
ings are drawn out. Start with the front-gore, pin 
the darts together at the waist-line and baste down to 
the bottom ; then, beginning at the top, baste down to 
the waist-line. 

Join the under-arm to the front by pinning the waist- 
lines together ; begin at this place and baste in the 
basting threads, sewing down first. Then commence 
again at the waist-line and sew up, stretching the under- 
arm a trifle at the waist. 

Join the sidebody to the back, beginning at the waist- 
line, sewing down, and again from the waist up. Be 
very careful in handling these gores not to stretch che 
edges. 

Next join the sidebody and under-arm by pinning 
the waist-lines together, keeping the edges even and 
basting the traced line, sewing down and then from 
the waist up. Fasten the basting stitches strong enough 
to hold for a fitting. 

Try the basque on and if no alteration is necessary 
and there should be none if the lining is properly 
fitted, you are ready to stitch the seams. 



HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 



57 



CUTTING OUT PLAIDS AND STRIPES 

When cutting a bodice from striped or plaid mate- 
rial it requires a great nicety of adjustment to get the 
different parts to fit neatly and properly together. There 
are several rules which must be followed exactly or 
the bodice will be absolutely unpresentable. First the 
stripes or plaids must exactly correspond on either 
side of the middle-back seam and on either side of the 
front closing. 

M^ m m 




TO CUT PLAID GOODS 

They may be cut on the bias of the goods or in the 
usual straight up and down manner, but where they 
come together their lines must exactly match. To do 
this only requires care and attention. The lining must 



58 HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 

be exactly fitted and the seams distinctly marked 
upon it. Then lay each piece of lining upon the fab- 
ric and see that the lines of one piece of the back 
exactly correspond with the lines of the opposite 
piece, when they are laid with their right sides upon 
each other. 

Our illustration indicates as nearly as we can the 
manner of laying one-half the lining pieces on a plaid 
material. The other half must correspond. 

In the fitting the lining the exact waist-line should 
be indicated by a creased line in each portion. In lay- 
ing the portions on the cloth one line of the plaid is 
followed by this crease. In this instance it is the white 
line just below A B. 

First lay the back lining on the fabric with its waist 
line just below A B. Baste it in place all around. 
Then lay the sidebody with its creased line just below 
A B also, taking care that the top of the armseye cor- 
responds with the part of the back's armseye, which 
reaches lines E F. 

Perhaps at first the curves of the back and side-back 
will not exactly correspond but the fabric may be 
turned and even slightly twisted on to the lining until 
they fit together exactly. When this has been carefully 
adjusted, the under-arm piece of the lining is laid on 
the fabric with its creased waist-line also just below 
line A B. The line C D must also come in the same 
position for it as that line does for the sidebod}-. 

Place the front on the fabric so the cross stripes 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 59 

correspond with those of the under-arm piece at the 
waist and armseye lines. The stripe down the front 
must also be taken into consideration. 

It looks best of course, to have this stripe curve par- 
allel with the front closing line but with full busts 
this is impossible. However, for ladies of moderate 
development the stripe may be curved sufficiently 
without injuring the fit of the bodice. 

By following these directions the plaid will match 
exactly excepting at the darts, under-arm and shoulder 
seams. 

In cutting a bodice from striped material the work 

is less difficult. Still great care must be taken to 
have the lines match in the middle-back seam and 
the sidebodies fit into the curved back seam with the 
stripes hitting exactly. The stripes down the front 
closing should be curved as suggested above, in every 
possible instance. If the .lining is properly fitted the 
twisting effect will all disappear in the dart seams. 
It is best where it is possible, to have a stripe to run 
down between the darts. It looks better than if only 
one side of the stripe is shown. By keeping the darts 
nearly the same size, the bias effect often seen in the 
second dart back will be overcome. 

STITCHING SEAMS 

The seams of the basque must be stitched in abso- 
lutely straight lines ; wavering, irregular machine work 
will ruin the otherwise perfect fit. In stitching the 
curved seams joining the side-back and back portions, 



6o HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

always nave the back underneath and the side-back next 
the "presser-foot, " and it is well to hold the piece well 
up at each end of the "presser-foot," otherwise the side- 
back is likely to pucker in the sewing. When stitching 
the shoulder seams, have the front above and the back 
beneath as, if there is any difference, the front should 
be stretched on to the back. 

Leave the shoulder and under-arm seams until the 
last to be stitched. The front closing should be finished 
before. The garment may require a slight loosening or 
tightening at these seams before the collar and sleeves 
are added ; it is much easier to make such changes 
before the}' are machine sewed. Beside such altera- 
tions leave marks which can not always be removed, 
especially from silken fabrics. 

FINISHING SEAMS 

Finishing the seams of a basque is a matter of time 
and taste. Although the modern dressmaker is good 
enough to embellish them with bright ribbons, the 
busy woman will find that turning in and running the 
edges will make quite as neat a seam, wear just as well, 
take less time and answer every purpose. If the mate- 
lial used is cloth, silk or any other fabric that will not 
ravel, the edges can be notched or pinked, a finish 
popular with tailors. In thin or wash fabrics the 
French fell is used for most seams. This finish is 
made by placing the wrong sides of the parts together 
and stitching them in a narrow seam. Then when the 
edges have been pared oft even, turn the parts at the 



HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 6i 

seam, so that the right sides are together and make 
another seam. This leaves all the raw edges turned 
in and firmly sewed. 

Another way of finishing such fabrics is to make the 
ordinary quarter-inch seam, but at the same time sew 
in a narrow bias binding-strip of the goods. When 
the seam is made, pare it down closely, turn the binding 
strip over it, and also turn under the loose edge of 
the strip and fell it down along the seaming. In gar- 
ments made of partly embroidered fabrics this binding 
process is used along the seamed embroidered edges, 
even where a French fell is made along the plain 
edges ; because it is almost impossible to make a suc- 
cessful French fell along an embroidered edge. 

PRESSING SEAMS 

After the basque is stitched and the seams finished, 
it must be pressed, not a little, nor in spots, nor with 
a cold iron, but all over, with strength and with irons 
as hot as can be used without burning. Tailors are 
adepts in the use of the goose, the needle and the 
shears and should be regarded as the home dressmak- 
er's models. If you follow their example, you will take 
a press cloth of clean muslin, dampen it, (if the dress 
fabric is woolen) will lay it along each seam in turn 
and press until the cloth is perfectly dry. Afterward 
press the bare seam, running the iron under the edge 
to prevent outlines on the outside. 

The shoulder and dart seams are also treated in this 



62 HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 

manner, the greatest care being taken to retain their 
desirable curves. When all is done the basque should 
be tried on and should fit without a wrinkle, absolutely 
smooth. The bones which are added later are used 
only to make permanent that smoothness. 

FINISHING CLOSING EDGES 

The closing edges of a basque are finished either for 
buttons or hooks and eyes or for lacing. In each 
instance a special finish must be used. 

When the closing of the edges is to be effected by 
buttons, the left side must have its curved edge finished 
by a deep facing. This should be a quarter-inch wider 
than the size of the button-holes, and it should not 
be cut bias but show the same grain of cloth as 
the basque edge. The facing should be turned and 
basted over evenly and hemmed down on the wrong 
side. The right closing edge should be cut an inch 
wider so as to extend under the button-holes when the 
basque is closed. A tape stay should be stitched on 
the under side along the line for the buttons. 

When hooks and eyes are employed for closing, both 
edges should be finished as described above for the 
left side, only the hooks and eyes should be sewed on 
so as to just touch the outer edges and a neat facing 
then sewed on over them, to finish. 

Thousands of nicely drafted basques are spoiled 
because the fronts are uneven. They will measure the 
same, but the hooks and eyes not being opposite, the 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 63 

collar is made crooked, the dress gaps and the whole 
waist is unbalanced. It is not an exaggeration to say 
that not one woman in fifty can button a dress prop- 
erl}^ and not one in twenty can sew hooks and e3'es 
directly opposite each other. There is no trick about it, 
it is simply a matter of correct measurement. Use a 
piece of chalk or a colored pencil and mark off each side 
at regular intervals with an inch measure. If the waist 
is pinned down so that it will not slip, the spacing can- 
not be inaccurate. These are some of the little points 
in the finishing of a dress that are so perplexing and 
on which so much of the style depends. An extra 
facing of the cloth of the basque must be added. It 
is attached to the right side and should be wide enough 
to extend well under the line of closing. 

When a cord lacing is used the edges are finished as 
for hooks and e3^es, except that eyelets are worked 
instead. The same care must be taken to have the 
eyelets even and opposite. The extra facing should be 
attached on the right side and extend under the lacing. 



CHAPTER V 
HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

(Continued) 

BONING A BASQUE SCALE FOR PLACING THE BONES FIN- 
ISHING EDGES TO FINISH A TAILOR GARMENT LEAD 

WEIGHTS 

BONING A BASQUE 

The boning of a bodice is a particular matter and a 
tedious one as well. Few dresses are properly boned. 
Some good rules followed, remedy all mistakes usually 
made, and when the work is properly done the bones 
or stays add a great deal to the beautj^ of any bodice. 

They are generally added before the collar and alwa3's 
before the sleeves are attached. A bodice is likely to be 
twisted and handled a good deal in inserting the stays 
and that is the best reason why the work should be 
done as soon as the seams are otherwise finished and 
before facings, collar or sleeves are added. 

Covered steels and whalebones in casings are the 

stays in vogue. There is a great deal of difference in 

the varieties of each to be purchased. The best will 

be found the cheapest in the end and it is pretty gen- 

64 



IfOJF TO MAKE A BASQUE 65 

erally conceded that the old-fashioned whalebone can 
not be excelled for either wear or grace. Before using 
whalebones they should be soaked in hot water for a 
couple of hours. This process makes them pliable 
and easily cut and pierced. They also need shaping 
and this can then be readily done. A moment's thought 
will reveal the presence of curves described by the 
lines of the figure. It will also reveal the absurdity 
of putting straight bones or steels in a garment intend- 
ed to follow these exquisitely curving lines. To be 
sure, being flexible, they will to a certain extent shape 
themselves to the figure, but not accurately. They 
must be shaped beforehand. In other words, the stays 
are a part of the garment and the garment must be 
given the fit ; it must make the figure whether the 
woman is shapely or shapeless. You should see the fit 
in the basque before it is put on. 

Consequently, when the whalebone has been soaked 
and cut the right length, it must be curved with a hot 
iron, to follow the seam. For some seams when they 
run on bias lines, it is not always possible to get the nice 
curve with wide bones and they must be whittled down. 
This should not be done with a knife or shears, they are 
likely to split the bone which if good is very fibrous ; 
but a piece of ordinary glass should be used and with 
its sharp edges the bone can be neatly shaved into 
shape very rapidly. There should also be bored or 
punched holes in the bone in three or four places to 

5 



66 HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

sew through, those at each end being most import- 
ant. 

When steels are used they always come covered and 
are easily bent into the proper curves. 

When bones or bare steels are used, it is necessary 
to stitch along each seam casings in which they can be 
inserted. Whatever is used for these casings they 
must be fulled on almost in gathers. Galloons may be 
purchased for these casings, which answer every pur- 
pose, and are neat in appearance ; however, hemmed 
muslin or silk like the lining used, makes very good 
casings. Full them on by hand, stitching them close 
on each side over the seam. The casings full and the 
bones tight will straighten the seams of any bodice and 
defy wrinkles at the waist. In sewing bias strips of 
lining to the seams for casings several methods may be 
employed, one or two of the best being here given. Cut 
the strips just wide enough so that- when they are 
sewed on they will tightly hold the bones or stays. 
One plan is to turn under the edges far enough to 
make the casing of the desired width, and then crease 
it through the center so that the latter may easily be 
made to follow the seam ; then fell or neatly run the 
sides of the casings to position, or, with fancy silk, 
catch-stitch them in place. The latter method produces 
a very neat effect. Or, after the casing has been folded 
and creased, run it along the crease at one side, and 
turn it over the seam and fell it down on • the other 
side, taking care to keep the center over the seam. 



HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 67 

Where a casing is bias there will be no necessity for 
putting it on very full, as in the straight casings when 
galloon is used because it will give with the seam and 
for that reason will neither bind nor draw it. 

SCALE FOR PLACING BONES 

Here is a scale for the correct placing of bones. 
The one up the back seam is not necessarj*. In the 
side seams let the bone run up four and a half inches 
above the waist-line and two inches below ; the bones 
under the arm must not come nearer than two inches of 
the sleeve. In the darts have the bone end one inch 
below the casing. Run the bone to the bottom of the 
basque and tack it by sewing through at five different 
places above the waist-line and two places below. Of 
these seven sewings have two one-half an inch on either 
side of the belt. At the top of the casings tack the bone in 
place, half an inch or so below, so as to prevent it 
breaking or pushing through. If properly soaked there 
will be no difhculty in sewing though the bone, and 
it is this sewing that will support the figure and sus- 
tain the shape of the bodice. 

If hooks and eyes are used, bone both front closings. 
Run a stitching along the edges the width of the 
bone and insert the bone between the linings, having 
it as high as the darts and extending down to the 
bottom oi the facing. 

As before stated, if properl}^ cut any waist will fit if 
abundantly and tightly boned. The bone must be 



68 HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 

whole to afford the pliability desired and must be 
securely fastened by strong sewing. 

There is a use to which steel stays are rarely put, but one 
which deserves general adoption in finishing low-necked 
or evening waists having no seam at the center of the 
front and, also those whose upper edges do not closely 
enough follow the figure of the wearer at the center 
of the top. The waist is boned in the usual manner, 
except that no bones or sta3's are added to the front 
darts, as their addition is liable to produce a bulging 
effect where the other stays join. The waist between 
these darts is held smoothly to the figure by this new 
arrangement of steel stays. Two stays, long enough to 
extend from the point at the lower edge of the front 
to a little more than half-way to the tops of the 
darts, have their adjacent edges fastened together at 
the point, and are spread so that they will extend to 
the dart and are felled to position on the lining after 
the latter is well stretched under them. Two other 
stays are joined to the upper ends of the lower stays 
and are felled to the waist-lining and reach the top of 
the waist about an inch from the center at each side, 
where they are firmly secured to a short stay extend- 
ing along the top of the waist over the space between 
the front darts. The top of the waist is turned down 
over this short stay, from which the covering may be 
removed, and an extra facing is added to give a neat 
and firm finish. It will be at once understood that a 
waist thus fortified will present a close, smooth effect 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 



69 



and at the same time secure for the wearer that peace 
of mind which comes with tlie consciousness that her 
waist will follow the outlines of her figure as closely 
when she is seated as when she is standing. Whale- 
bone may be used for the diamond-shaped arrangement 
of the stays in place of steel, but for the cross-piece 
at the top a steel stay is decidedly preferable, though 
whalebone will serve the purpose fairly well if bent 
after being heated in water. 



MODE OF FASTENING IN A WHALEBONE 

Our illustation shows two modes of fastening in 
whalebones. The fan-shaped mode is used in prefer- 
ence for stays. A hole is bored in a piece of whale- 
bone with a strong bodkin, previously to- slipping it in 
and the stitches are put in so as to form a fan both on 
the right and on the wrong side. The cotton or silk 
used must be thick and of excellent quality. 

The other mode is also used. The whalebone is 
not bored, and the stitches take just as much material 
on the right side as will insure their firmness, but no 
more, for they must be as little seen as possible, the 
long sitches being all on the wrong side. 



70 HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

FINISHING EDGES 

The lower edge of a basque should always be given 
a silk facing, cut bias. It is absolutely necessary to 
provide silk, no matter what the material of the gar- 
ment, for facing the bottom of a basque and to line its 
collar. Any other goods will produce a clumsy finish. 




INSIDE OF A FINISHED BASQUE 

When all seams have been sewed, pressed and finished 
and the closing edges also completed, the lower edges 
of the basque, if it is a plain one, should be turned 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 71 

over and neatly basted. If a simple machine stitching 
is to be given this edge, as is often found desirable, that 
should be done and then attach the facing by hand. 
Cut the silken the bias and hem it on the bottom holding 
it easy. Gather in the fulness of its lower edge rather 
than pleat it down. The sewing should be firm rather 
than loose as the strain otherwise may break it. 

But the facing of the bottom varies in depth with 
the length of the basque's skirt. In deeper round 
basques the facing should be cut wide enough to reach 
the belt, that is five inches wide perhaps. The habit 
basque, which is short on the hips, pointed in front 
and finished with tails, calls for a special facing, nar- 
row all around, with the tails faced to the waist. Cut 
the lining on the bias and don't pleat it in any place. 
If 5^ou hold it properly it will adjust itself to the 
edge of the basque. Silk also for these while not as 
durable as farmer's satin, is preferable on account of its 
softness. 

The sleeves and collar of a basque are treated of at 
length in the next chapter, so we will only add here 
that the neck and armseye edges should always be fin- 
ished by a narrow bias facing or a ribbon binding as 
preferred. 

TO FINISH A TAILOR GARMENT 

It is when we come to the finishing of basques that 
tailoring rises to such pre-eminence over ordinary 
dressmaking methods. Every means is followed to 



72 JIOIV TO MAKE A BASQUE 

overcome wrinkles, which will appear in the most per- 
fectly fitted dressmaker's garments. 

When the seams have been stitched, before touch- 
ing the lining, which is tacked to each piece well away 
from the seams, there is a great deal to be done. The 
seams must be notched where they describe an inward 
curve, for each seam must be ironed open and flat. 
They must be pressed very smooth and notched well 
into the seam until they will la}^ perfectly flat. As 
cloth is very stubborn, a very hot and heavy iron must 
be banged on the cloth, not merely passed over it. To 
facilitate flattening, the cloth may be smeared before 
ironing with a piece of dry soap, on the parts where 
the notched edges of the seams fold back on the inside 
of the bodice. With thick very stubborn cloth the 
soap is not sufficient and then tailors use thin paste 
of flour and water, which they lightly apply with a small 
brush in minute quantities as described for the soap. 
With the paste the seam flattens perfectl}-. You will 
probably crease the lining in ironing the seams but 
as each seam is pressed, iron afterward the two pieces 
of lining into place smoothly over each other. When 
the bodice is ironed and boned, turn in the edge of the 
upper portions of lining, tack each neatly and easily 
on the under part, and hem them together, taking care 
to sew the lining only, and not to interfere with the 
cloth in any way. When all the hems are complete 
iron them flat, putting a cloth over each seam, so that 
the iron does not make the lining shiny and unsightly. 



HO IV TO MAKE A BASQUE 73 

Before boning and hemming your seams it would be 
advisable to finish the fronts of the basqiie. Our direc- 
tions are for a double-breasted corsage, with a row of 
buttons up each side, because it requires more finish. 
It hooks down the centre of the front, and then 
the right front buttons over on the left. There is a 
seam down the center of the double-breast or 
plastron to render the fit perfect, and the space between 
the two rows of buttons must be lined with packing to- 
make it as smooth and stiff as a board. Hence it must 
fit perfectly. The packing is kept in place by the 
buttons on the right, and the button holes on the left, 
and its two portions are tacked firmly down the center 
over the seam of the plastron. Down this line the 
hooks are used. 

The basque must be lined with packing, from one 
inch of the lower edge to an inch above the waist-line. 
It will have to be done in small pieces because no 
crease is permissible as the packing follows and accen- 
tuates the curvings of the basque, and the pieces must be 
securely sewed together when the whole basque has the 
packing tacked upon it. You must leave an inch f orturn- 
ing, along the edge of the basque and up the edge of 
the plastron. Turn this inside over the packing, notch- 
ing the edge of the turned-in portion where it shows 
any tendency to pull. Tack this edge smoothly, and 
stitch it down with two rows of machine stitching. 
This will make the basque and plastron beautifully 
firm and smooth. 



74 HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 

Now you have to line plastron and basque with silk ; 
tack pieces of silk in place, very smoothly, and make 
a tiny round hole above each hook, so that its tooth 
can emerge. The edge must be cut flush with the 
machine stitch nearest the edge, on to which it is 
closely and neatly hemmed with silk. The lining of the 
plastron must be in two pieces, that of the basque at 
least in four, as it would be endless trouble to cut the 
exact shape in cloth on the cross ; and the edges, left 
raw but neatl}' cut, must be hemmed over each other. 



INSIDE OF FINISHED TAILOR-MADE BASQUE 

When the cloth is adjusted and seamed, the bones 
must be inserted, the tapes being sewed to the inside 
of the seams. Except the bone in the middle of the back, 



MOJV TO MAKE A BASQUE 75 

all bones cease at the waist-line, and the upper end cased 
in tape is left free from the seam for about an inch to 
avoid indicating from outside the exact spot where the 
bone ceases. The boning done, hem over your lining 
and hem the lower edge over the cloth basque just 
above the waist-line so that the belt when sewed care- 
fully inside above each bone, conceals where the lining 
of the corsage and the cloth lining of the basque meet. 
The lining is neatly hemmed over the plastron lining. 
Press the finished basque with a very hot iron, cover- 
ing the inside with a cloth as above described. This 
is a delicate operation, for if you crease them you will 
have to replace the packing and do your work over 
again. Now sew on the buttons and make the button- 
holes, which last is not easy to do well through the two 
thicknesses of cloth and packing. 

The sleeves are lined like the corsage, independently 
of the cloth, and when the sleeves are sewed in, the 
upper edge of the lining is neatly hemmed over the 
seams before the dress preservers are put in. The 
parements are simulated by rows of stitching ; they 
button up at the elbow seams, and are stitched, lined 
with packing first, and then with hemmed-over cloth, 
exactly like the plastron. The collar is similarly made. 
The packing and lining are seamed inside the corsage 
to the neck. Then the cloth of the collar itself is 
drawn over the seam, and is hemmed to the silk lining 
of the corsage. 



76 JIOIV TO MAKE A BASQUE 

CLOSING WORDS 

It is customary with French modists, who are so very 
successful in making silks and light woolen fabrics, to 
use two wide steels of nine or ten inches to hold the 
front and back of a basque down. These steels which come 
covered with soft white kid, are incased in ribbon and 
felled in the dress along the two seams. Although not 
very flexible they are wrinkle-proof and hold the waist 
down as nothing else will. They were introduced after 
the lead weights were retired and they are characteris- 
tic of the French system modistes. 

Every basque should be provided with an inside 
belt secured to every seam (but not to the front darts). 
This holds the garment in place on the figure, prevents 
drawing up in the back and takes the strain off the 
front portions. This belt is best made of the regular 
belt ribbon, which ma}^ be purchased in any shop, by 
the yard. The best quality has a corded edge. Inside 
belts made of lining goods and the material of the 
dress stitched together are cheaper, but their clumsi- 
ness can not be denied and the ribbon will be found 
more economical in the end. They should be finished 
to fasten in front with two small hooks and eyes. 

LEAD WEIGHTS 

When the basque is postillion in shape at the back 
or is given long tails of any other description it is 
almost absolutely necessary to weight their lower edges 
to keep them in place. Nothing is more disfiguring 
than to have the lower edge of a basque at the back 



HOW TO MAKE A BASQUE 77 

or front turned up always after sitting down in it. The 
sta)'s used in the fronts of basques usually prevent 
this there, but in the back, lead weights will be found 
its best remedy. They can be purchased for a song, 
of different styles and sizes. They should always be 
carefully covered with silk and then slipped under the 
facing and securel}^ tacked so they can not get out of 
place with wear. Tabs on the sides of basques or 
bodices of any style, should be leaded also on figures 
where the hips have any tendency to push them up. 



CHAPTER VI 
SLEEVES AND COLLARS 

DRESS SLEEVES MAKING A COAT SLEEVE SEWING IN A 

SLEEVE JACKET AND CLOAK SLEEVES STANDING COL- 
LARS — TURNED OVER COLLARS — REVERS COLLARS PLAS- 
TRONS 

DRESS SLEEVES 

The proper fitting of a sleeve is almost as intricate 
as that of a bodice. Whether the sleeve is fashioned 
for a tight, plain arm covering, or is a voluminous, 
ornamental affair matters but little in the work to be 
done. 

In a tight fitted coat sleeve there are several mis- 
takes to be avoided if a perfectl}^ fitted sleeve is desired. 
To make such a pair of sleeves for a dress, the lining for 
each sleeve should be cut and fitted before the fabric of 
the dress is touched. This will be found a great saving 
of time, patience and material just as when at work 
upon the basque. 

When the sleeve is one for a jacket or cloak and 

requires no lining it will always be found good policy 

78 



SLEE VES AND COLLARS 79 

to cut a sleeve in some inexpensive material and fit it 
over the arm into the garment. When this sleeve has 
been made to fit the arm properly it should then be 
used as a pattern by vi^hich to cut the cloth to be really 
used. This course will be found truly economical. 
Expensive, wide cloth or even narrow, but equally 
costly velvets and plushes which are usually the mate- 
rials used for jackets and wraps are too valuable to 
try experiments upon. 

In cutting this lining the greatest care must be 
taken to lay the pattern upon the cloth with the weave 
or grain of the latter running correctly. Ladies cut 
out sieves with their outline edges just like the pat- 
tern, they declare and yet the sleeve does not fit. It 
twists on the arm. The inside seam in some myste- 
rious way will crawl over the top of the arm, or de- 
scribe a spiral curve from the elbow to the wrist. This 
is only because the straight line, always found in good 
patterns given to indicate how to lay it on the goods 
has not been followed. Sometimes there is a strong 
temptation to deviate from this rule, when you find 
that by moving the pattern over just a half-inch further 
to the left or right, you can save several inches in 
length, but it is an economy never to do so. The entire 
sleeve will be ruined nine cases out of ten, you will 
f^nd. 

However, these rules need only apply to the lining 
of a sleeve. If it is cut correctly the outside may be 



8o SLEE VES AND COLLARS 

cut bias if desired and the lining will hold it in posi- 
tion. 

Another error comes from taking in the seams of a 
sleeve too deep. There is, of course quite a strain on 
the seams of a sleeve and they must be made wide 
enough to withstand that. Wide seams in sleeves 
must be notched at the elbow, however, just as waist 
seams require it where they introduce curves. 

The seams of a sleeve should be finished in the 
same manner as those of the waist. If the latter are 
bound with ribbon, bind the sleeve seams also ; if they 
are overcast only that will answer for the sleeves and 
sleeves always fit well when their seams are laid open 
and the edges loosely tacked to the lining. 

It is also very important that all seams and facings 
should be thoroughly and carefully pressed with a hot 
iron. A large strong bottle wrapped with smooth linen, 
makes an excellent ironing board for sleeves. Press 
on the right side of a sleeve, with a piece of cloth 
between it and the hot iron. 

The fit of a coat sleeve for a small arm, or an arm 
that is not smoothly rounded is much improved by a 
layer of wadding extending from the elbow to the 
shoulder. Some good dressmakers use it for all lined 
sleeves as they find it gives a desirable firmness to the 
set of the sleeve. 

For all long close sleeves which fit the arm tight 
below the elbow and extend to the wrist, it is best to 
leave either one or the other seam open at the wrist 



SLEEVES AND COLLARS 8i 

for two or three inches. This finish will be found 
convenient and quite ornamental at the same time. 
It is often found comfortable to turn back the sleeve 
by this means as a cuff, when long gloves are put on 
or bracelets added to the toilette itself. 

The sleeve must always be faced up to a line above 
this opening. 

MAKING A COAT SLEEVE 

When the lining has been fitted and the edges 
trimmed off to correspond with any changes, rip out 
all bastings. Then tack on the wadding (if it is used). 
Lay the lining on the outside fabric and baste all four 
pieces of the two sleeves into place before cutting 
them out. If the fabric is striped or figured see that 
the opposite upper portions correspond. 

Then cut each out accurately. Join the edges along 
the inside seams, and finish them with ribbon, or over- 
stitching as has been decided upon. Then press these 
seams flat with the hot iron. Afterward lay the wrist 
of the sleeve with the right side flat upon the material 
provided for facing the sleeve. Cut the facing four 
inches deep and to fit this end of the sleeve. Stitch 
them (the lining and sleeve) together across the whole 
lower edge and along each side for three inches. Then 
join the edges of the outside seam terminating the 
seam at the seams made by joining on the facing. 
Turn over the facing and tack it down by hand. When 
the edges of the outside seam are finished and pressed 



82 SLEEVES AND COLLARS 

over the bottle, the entire sleeve is finished. It is a 
most simple and neat piece of work. Any trimming 
desired may be added after the sleeve is turned. 

SEWING IN THE SLEEVE 

Sewing the sleeve into the garment is a thing which 
must be done caretuUy too. The seams of the sleeve 
must be placed in their positions and then extra ful- 
ness can be laid in pleats or gathers according to the 
prevailing fashion. While basting the sleeve into the 
armseye hold the sleeve toward you always. Sewing 
the sleeve in by hand is very good as a machine will 
often disarrange the gathers or pleats. 

Tailor-made dresses of the best style have their 
sleeves with linings made separately and ail seams 
turned inside. In such cases the lining only is seamed 
into the armseye while the full outside fabric is sewed 
on to the waist by invisible stitches. Such sleeves 
require considerable skill to make properly and we 
would not advise a novice to attempt them. 

In any case the sleeve must first be basted in, hold- 
ing the sleeve towards you. Fasten it into the arms- 
eye by pinning in their correct places the front and the 
back (if there is one) seams and arrange any fulness 
there is over the shoulder. Try the garment on before 
machine stitching the sleeve into place. 

JACKET AND COAT SLEEVES 

It is advisable to line even the heaviest cloth sleeves. 
Even when the remainder of the garment is not 



SLEE VES A ND COL LARS 83 

lined, a smooth silk or silk finished lining can not be 
too highly recommended for the sleeves. Aside from 
the fit its omission is very trying upon the patience of 
the wearer. The smooth lining allows the garment to 
be so easily slipped on and off. Then light colored 
dresses are not exposed to the dye of the cloth that 
soils in even the best woolens. The smooth lining 
prevents straining and stretching the seams of the 
sleeves and shoulders. 

These linings should be cut the same size as the 
cloth but must be made and pressed separately. They 
should be put together with their respective seams 
inside and the armseye seams should be covered by 
felling the lining of the sleeve over it. At the wrist 
the sleeve should be cut long enough to be turned up 
inside an inch and the lining is also felled down over 
that raw edge. 

STANDING COLLARS 

For an ordinary round standing collar, the neck of 
a waist should be neatly bound by a narrow piece of 
bias silk. In other words it should be completely fin- 
ished just as if there were to be no collar added. How- 
ever, this is not always done and other methods will 
be explained further along in the chapter. 



A STANDING COLLAR 

The above illustration shows the correct proportions 
for a standing collar. It must be cut out of straight 



84 SLEE VES AND COLLARS 

cloth, that is the lining or foundation must be ; the 
outside may be cut bias or in any fashion desired. 

Canvas or buckram must be used for the interlining 
or foundation of all standing collars. Crinoline or 
lighter stiff materials will nut give the desired firm- 
ness. A standing collar should be so stiff it will not 
with ordinary wear wrinkle or crease. Cut the inter- 
lining first and baste it firml}^ on the outside fabric. 

The width of the collar must depend upon the style 
in present fashion and the taste of the wearer. There 
must, in cutting, be an allowance made of a quarter of 
an inch all around the collar for seams or turn in. 

Every collar unless a very thin one should be lined 
with silk, This should be cut to correspond in size 
with the interlining. Turn down together the inter- 
lining and outside (which have previously been basted 
together) all around the depth of a deep seam and 
baste this fold in place. Then baste upon the under- 
side the lining of silk : turn in its edges all around and 
fell them down neatly. This makes a much neater 
collar than to seam the three pieces together and turn 
them inside out, which process also wrinkles the can- 
vas so badly, it is almost impossible to press the collar 
into shape and smoothness again. 

Every collar must be thoroughly pressed with a hot 
iron with a cloth between. When this has been done 
place the middle of the collar at the middle-back waist 
seam and sew it on from that point toward each front. 
Use strong twist and back-stitches on the under-side of 



SLEE VES AND COLLARS 85 

the waist. These stitches should pass through the inter- 
lining of the collar but must not be seen on its outside. 

Under no circumstances must the edge of a collar 
be stretched but sometimes the neck may be given an 
imperceptible extension and a more perfect fit in the 
curves of the neck and shoulder be secured. However 
this is hazardous and should only be practiced after 
considerable experience in dressmaking has been 
acquired. 

Another method of making a standing collar is to 
seam the ends and upper edges of the cloth, interlin- 
ing and lining altogether and turn them, and press. 

Then joining the middles of the cloth and interlin- 
ing at their lower edges to the middle back seam of 
the waist at its neck, seam the collar on. Afterward 
fell the lining of the collar down covering the raw 
edges of the seam. It must then be thoroughly pressed 
with the hot iron. 

Either of the above methods of sewing on a stand- 
ing collar is preferable to the old one of sewing on all 
lower edges of the collar to the neck of the waist and 
a bias facing in a seam after which the facing was 
felled down over the raw edges. This was clumsy 
fashion and not at all permissible in these days of per- 
fect and close fitted bodices. 

TURN-OVER COLLARS 

Both jackets and basques are frequently finished at 
the neck by turn-over collars. They are cut in two 
portions with their front edges on the straight of the 
goods. 



86 



SLEE VES AND COLLARS 




This illustration shows a turn-over 
collar. It should never be sewed on 
to the neck of a waist but should be 
first joined to a band of straight 
cloth and it attached to the neck. 
When all the seams have been sewed 
and pressed and the waist put on, 
turn over the collar and press it with 

TURN-OVER COLLAR ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^j^^p^^ ^j^-^ j^ ^^^^^^ 

than pressing it before it is put on. 

This style of collar should be given a lining of silk 
harmonizing in color with the cloth and an interlining 
of canvas. Crinoline may be used instead of canvas 
if found more convenient, as there is not so much 
firmness required for this style of collar as a standing 
one. Where the turned over collar is as wide as as the 
one illustrated, the ends and lower edge are often fin- 
ished with a wire. The turn in the front is thus kept 
in its upright position. 

REVERS COLLAR 

This collar is the most difficult of all 
to make. Some authorities go so far as 
to say no one, but a good tailor should 
ever attempt one. But for many double- 
breasted jackets and basques they are 
indispensable and we see no reason 
why with care and good rules to follow' 
a woman may not accomplish even this 

collar. REVERS COLLAR 




SLEE VES AND COLLARS 87 

When the collar is cut in three pieces joined by 
seams at the notches, it is easily made. The cloth 
is joined at these seams and a lining of silk and an 
interlining of canvas is provided and they are seamed 
together at the outside edge. Then the cloth is seamed 
along the edge of the cut-away neck of the garment, 
with the seam on the right side of the latter. After 
which the lining of the collar is felled down over the 
raw edges of the seam. 

But more often the three-cornered part of the collar 
which comes down over the bust is continuous with 
the front of the garment itself. It is the front turned 
over. This makes the collar more intricate. In such 
case the first thing to do is to baste over this part a 
layer of canvas and then top face it with the material 
that is used for the remainder of the collar. Join to 
it the cloth of the back portion of the collar in the 
short seams and join that portion to the neck of the gar- 
ment itself. When all this is done and thoroughly 
pressed by the hot iron nothing remains to do except 
fell on a lining with a canvas interlining for the back 
portion of the collar. 

PLASTRONS 

But little can be said on the trimming of bodices, 
owing to the fluctuations in fashion. Full draped 
bodice fronts are very pretty but it requires skill to 
handle a folded piece of cloth and lay it in artistic 
pleats. The aspirant is cautioned against attempting 



88 SLEE VES AND COLLARS 

too much. Even to copy a fanciful design 
requires a long and faithful apprenticeship. 
But plain plastrons and cuffs can be more sat- 
isfactorily managed. A double-breasted 
front gives a desirable style to a basque, 
whatever the prevailing fashion. The one 
illustrated may serve as a guide. It can be 
cut on three sides over the outlines of the 
button-hole side of the basque. It is joined 
along the one side to the button-hole side 
A PLASTRON of tlic basque its entire length. Along its 
outer edge it may be finished in scollops, or simply 
completed straight, slanted or narrowed toward the bot- 
tom of the basque. It may be fastened down along that 
edge bv buttons or by hooks placed on the under-side. 
But as that edge must be necessarily bias, hooks and 
eyes do not close it securely. 

Pieces like this or other revers and sleeve cuffs 
should always be lined with silk and at the same time 
be given an interlining of crinoline. 




CHAPTER VII 
JACKETS AND CLOAKS 

ladies' TAILORING ITS DIFFICULTY THE PATTERN — 

SPONGING CLOTH — CUTTING CLOTH LINING A WRAP — 

FINISHING SEAMS 

ladies' TAILORING 

Tailoring varies from dressmaking principally in the 
methods of cutting and finishing. In cutting a gar- 
ment (always done by measurements) the tailor draws 
the pattern on the material itself, using no paper pat- 
tern, and cutting the lining Afterward. In tailoring, 
the lining is merely put in as a neat finish ; it has 
nothing to do with the set or fit of the garment; it is 
seamed when the garment is sewed and boned, by being 
neatly hemmed over on itself. Hence tailoring only suc- 
ceeds for cloths and heavy materials, because light fab- 
rics need the support of a lining to give them firmness 
and substance. On the other hand, when lining and 
material are seamed together, as in dressmaking, the 
tailor's exquisite fit is nearly impossible. No mat- 
ter how careful we may be, the lining and material 



go JACKETS AND CLOAKS 

will never exactly correspond, and then one may give 
or stretch more than the other; in either case wrinkles, 
no matter how small they may be, are inevitable. 

Tailoring is marked by its perfect accuracy, its firm- 
ness, strength and durability of workmanship. It is 
naturally heavier work than dressmaking, but it is a 
style of work adapted, and indeed requisite for heavy 
materials. The home tailoress will find an inces- 
sant need of hot, heavy irons in the course of her work, 
die work of the iron being assisted by the action of 
soap, water, and even paste as is elsewhere shown. 
But there is something satisfactory about the work, 
for it looks so beautifully neat and firm when finished. 

ITS DIFFICULTY 

The novice should understand that the most difficult 
task a sewer can undertake is to make a jacket or cloak. 
The ordinary dressmaker is not usually modest regard- 
ing her ability but she has been forced to confess she 
can not handle cloth like a tailor. The only reason 
for this is, she does not understand the value of bast- 
ing and pressing as he does. 

Did you ever see a coat while a tailor is at work 
upon it? It is always absolutely covered with white 
bastings and he works with his hot goose within reach 
of his hand. The tailor also cuts by the square and 
rule but certain systems of dress-cutting are modelled 
on the same principles and there are patterns that will 
answer every purpose. 



J A CKE TS AND CL OA KS 9 1 

What makes the contract also a very serious matter 
is that usually it is expensive material that must be 
risked. Unless you are a little experienced in cutting 
and have a tried pattern it is a good plan to pay a 
tailor a couple of dollars to cut the garment. If the 
cloth is not cut with the correct curves and outlines 
no power on earth will ever make it fit properly. 

THE PATTERN 

However, if yoM have a basque pattern that fits you 
perfectly it will answer for a jacket with modifications. 
The seams must be cut a half-inch wider than for a 
dress and the armse5'es cut one-half inch lower than 
a dress waist. This extra allowance is required because 
of the thickness of materials used and because the 
garment is to be worn over another waist. 

For basques two darts are used but a jacket is usually 
supplied with only one, and if the jacket is cut tight, 
half-fitting or loose, one dart is usually indispensable. 
However, for women tending to Embonpoint two darts 
are better. The seam lines tend to lengthen the waist- 
line. Further along suggestions are given for lining 
wraps but this is seldom done, and the fitting can not 
be done in that as it is for dress waists. Consequently, if 
there are an}^ doubts of the perfect fit of the pattern it 
is the better plan to take some inexpensive muslin and 
first fit it after the pattern. When that has been done 
use this muslin as a pattern for cutting the cloth. This 
will often save you many dollars and much mortifica- 
tion. 



92 JACKETS AND CLOAKS 

SPONGING CLOTH 

There are very few woolen cloths but require spong- 
ing before being used. Perhaps the salesman from whom 
you purchase it will tell you, it does not need sponging, 
but it is not safe to trust so unreliable an authority. 
All cloths showing a gloss on the surface will spot 
with the least drop of water. A light rain shower will 
ruin a jacket made up in it without sponging. 

Some women think this sponging of cloth a most 
mysterious process and a thing they can not do for them- 
selves. And when the cloth is taken to a dye or cleaning 
house, there will be a charge of twenty-five cents per 
yard for the sponging. This is all out of proportion 
for the service. 

The work can be easily done at home. Before cut- 
ting the cloth, wring out of clear water a sheet or a strip 
of muslin and lay it between the folds of the right side 
of the cloth. Towels, that do not shed lint may be 
used for the same purpose. Roll up the cloth in these 
wet cloths and allow it to wait a half hour and then 
remove the muslin and press the cloth on the wrong 
side until it is perfectly dry. The wet cloths should 
be wrung out as drv as can be done b}' hand before 
being placed on the cloth. This sponging will take 
off the objectionable gloss and at the same time will 
sufficiently shrink the cloth. 

Some wait until a damp lowering da)', yet when it 
is not raining and then they hang out in the air for 
two or three hours, the cloth they want sponged. This 



J A CKE TS AND CL OA KS 93 

plainly is not a safe expedient. Another way is to lay 
the damp muslin on the cloth and iron it with a very 
hot iron until both are dry. This is certainly a safe 
method but it is also a very laborious one. 

CUTTING CLOTH 

Upon the surface of the smoothest woolen cloth as 
well as that of velvets, plushes and similar fabrics 
there is always a nap. By brushing the palm of the 
hand lightly along the surface its general direction 
can be readily detected. In laying the pattern upon 
the cloth, it should be done in such a manner that the 
nap always runs or turns down. This rule should be 
followed even at the expense of the quantity of cloth 
used. 

These rules hold good with regard to velvets and 
plushes used for the same purposes, although there 
have been those who held that their nap should run in 
the other direction, to give them a desirable full look. 
But the best authorities do not agree to it. 

When you are sure the pattern at hand is a good 
fit, cut your cloth but never before. As suggested, fit 
cheap muslin first. Then lay all the portions on the 
cloth before cutting out one of them. Lay them on so 
that the weave of the cloth corresponds exactly with 
the weave of the pattern. Then the nap of the cloth 
must all run downward. 

Alwaj^s allow for generous seams. In an experi- 
mental garment they are safeguards. The only change 



94 J A CKE TS A ND CL OA KS 

which Is likely to be required is in the length of the 
waist. If it is too long it may be remedied by taking 
up the shoulder seams when, of course, tlie collar and 
armseye seams will have to be cut down. However, in 
fitting make as few changes as possible in the cloth. 
To cut away a half inch before you are absolutely sure 
the change is required will often ruin the whole gar- 
ment. 

LINING A WRAP 

Lining a jacket or cloak and lining a dress are two 
very different and distinct things. For a bodice the 
dress material and lining are seamed together. For a 
jacket or cloak two distinct garments are made. One 
is the cloth and the other the lining of silk or satin. 
The only points of connection are along the lines of 
the edges. The sleeves of the wrap, if it require sleeves, 
are made in the same manner. Their cloth and lining 
are only joined together at the wrists and the shoulders. 

For cloaks an inter-lining is frequently used. It 
gives the garment a certain desirable style to place can- 
vas over the chest and across the shoulders and makes 
it set well. Again flannel is sometimes, introduced in 
the same way for extra warmth. These inter-linings 
ate sewed together with the cloth seams, but the silk 
lining always remains separate. The seams of each 
portion must be laid open, notched and pressed flat 
before they are laid together. 

Pock'^ts are among the most difficult things to man- 
age in making a jacket or cloak. Their openings are 



JACKETS AND CLOAKS 95 

cut in the cloth and they themselves are cut and made 
to lay flat. They are always put in before the lining is 
attached and do not appear in it at all. 

The pocket welt or opening must always be stayed. 
There is no cloth, no matter how excellent that will 
stand the strain of a pocket welt without a stay. A 
strip of canvas or silesia sewed in the fold of the welt 
is all that is required. 

FINISHING SEAMS 

In heavy woolen garments, such as cloth jackets and 
cloaks, where the seams are to be bound with satin, 
silk or farmer's satin, and the garment is not lined, the 
binding is sometimes put on before the seam is 
stitched and is cut wide enough to extend just a trifle 
beyond the basting of the seam. It is applied by the 
usual binding process at each side, and then the seam 
is stitched through the binding as well as the fabric. 
Seams finished in this way are not pressed, of course, 
until the binding has been added and sewed in ; and a 
row of stitching may be made along the rolled edge of 
the binding on the upper side of the seam edge. A safer 
way is to baste the binding on, after the seams are 
pressed, by the rolled method just described, turning 
the binding under on the under-side, so that one row 
of machine-stitching will hold both it and the roll of 
the basted edge in place. Silk, satin and farmer's satin 
cut in bias strips are employed for this kind of binding. 



CHAPTER VIII 
PLAIN SEWING AND FANCY STITCHES 

OVER-HAND SEWING — FINE STITCHING — RUNNING SEAMS — 

BACK-STITCHING — HEMMING HEM-STITCHING FELLING 

FRENCH FELL GATHERING SHIRRING OVERCASTING 

TUCKING GUSSETS PATCHING — SEWING ON STRINGS 

HAND-SEWING 

Since the advent of the sewing machine, stitching 
by hand is considered a sad waste of energy. At the 
same time the beauty and delicacy of sewing done by 
hand can not be equaled by the best machine work. 
Dainty linens and cambrics hemmed, felled and tucked 
by hand will always be preferred and, in the market, 
demand a better price from purchasers. 

Our grandmothers were taught needlework as they 
were taught their A, B, C's and every little girl and 
woman to-day enjoy knowing the rules governing such 
work. 

For hand-sewing the foremost need of the work-basket 

is a needle-book well stocked with all sizes of needles 

of the very best make. They may be long or short as 

96 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 97 

the worker prefers but they must have sharp points 
and good large eyes. The best needles have eyes as 
large as possible in proportion to their size. When a 
needle's point breaks off or becomes bent throw it 
away at once, there is no econom}^ in preserving it for 
possible emergencies. 

The work-basket should also be supplied with cotton- 
thread of each number. Then in sewing be particular 
to use the sizes of needle and thread best adapted to 
each other and to the fabric to be sewed. A large 
needle carrying fine thread will pierce a hole too large 
to be filled by the thread, thus, making an uneven 
stitch. A thread too coarse for the needle or fabric 
will make an uneven ragged hole or will draw the 
weave of the fabric out of place. 

An emery bag is also a requisite work-basket acces- 
sory. This is best homemade as the fascinating straw- 
bery trifle sold under that name often contains a spuri- 
ous filling. However, when sewing by hand, when the 
needle loses only its smoothness, running it through 
your hair once or twice restores it. The natural oil of 
the hair is a powerful lubricator for both refractor}' 
needles and pins. For making the thread smooth and 
flexible a piece of good white wax is always valuable. 

OVER-HAND SEWING 

Our grandmothers spent their youths spinning and 
weaving narrow widths of linen they afterward fash- 
ioned into sheets requiring a torturing seam their en- 
tire lengths. It was upon these overhand seams little 

7 



98 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 



girls were given their first sewing lessons. We hope it 
will be upon shorter seams our reader will learn the task. 
Overhand sewing will be found a very simple lesson, 
if you avoid "puckering". That word is the synonym 
of woe to many a spectacled dame of to-day. A pucker 
in her seam meant ripping and doing over many a long 
seam, when she was a little girl. 




OVER-HAND SEWING 

Two selvage edges for overhanding are basted 
together and the sewer must stitch them over and over 
from left to right. The stitches in a seam of this 
kind must be even in depth; that is the same number 
of threads from the edge must be taken up by the needle 
in each stitch. To make the seam perfect the worker 
must always introduce the needle at the same angle. 
It matters little whether it be continuously straight 
over and over as in the first illustration or slanting as 
in the second. Uniformity is the thing desired. If 
this is followed persistently, precision soon becomes 
so natural as to require no effort. 

The fabric should be pinned to the lead pincushion 
or table and held, straight in the hands, not drawn 
over the first finger of the left hand. The thread should 
not be drawn too tight over the selvage edges to allow 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 99 




STITCHING 



the seam to press out smooth when finislied, as shown 
in the third illustration. 

Seams with raw edges may be sewed in the same 
manner. In such cases, however, the edges must first 
be turned down on the wrong side. 

FINE STITCHING 

The orthodox method is to sew 
the fabric together by putting the 
needle back two threads behind 
the place of its last insertion, 
bringing it out two threads in 
advance of the latter. Continuing this in a line 
makes each stitch only the length of two threads of 
the fabric. Our illustration shows more plainly than 
any explanation the way the needle must be inserted. 
This is the most exquisite of hand sewing, but it 
is seldom done, never except on the finest of infants' 
clothing and then stitches guided by the eye are dainty 
enough, without the strain of the exactness of count- 
ing threads. 

KUNNING SEAMS 

Running is similar to stitch- 
ing with the difference that the 
needle is never put backward. 
Several stitches may be taken 
RUNNING STITCH upou the needlc before the 

thread is drawn through the fabric. Two threads of the 
fabric are taken up by the needle and two threads passed 




1 06 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 

over. This does not make a seam of any great strength, 
but it is used for skirt breadths and tucks sewed by 
hand. All materials do not allow of a thread being 
drawn out easily to guide the needle, as is indicated in 
our illustration. Even when thej^ do, it would often 
be a considerable waste of time, and children learn- 
ing must early be taught never to waste time. A 
piece of light cardboard or thick paper folded double 
and cut of the exact width of the seam will serve the 
same purpose. Being held firmly under the thumb of 
the left hand and slipping with it along the edge as 
the seam goes on, the needle being always carefully 
inserted by the side of its lower corner, the straight 
line will be quite correct. 

BACK-STITCHING 

Back-stitching must not 
be confounded with fine 
stitching. They are alike 
with the exception that the 
number of threads taken 

BACK-STITCHING . , r 1 r 

up m advance of the form- 
er stitch is twice the number taken behind it. Or the 
needle is inserted two threads behind the former inser- 
tion and brought out four threads in advance, or six 
threads are taken up, on the needle. 

There is a seam which is much used made up of a 
back-stitch and a run. It is not a very artistic seam 
but it is stronger than a run. For this, four or five 
running stitches are taken, the thread drawn through 




PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES loi 

and then the needle is inserted two threads back and 
another run of four or five stitches is made. 




HEMMING 

The preparation of a hem 
for sewing is very important. 
The raw edge must first be 
turned under and the extra fold 
HEMMING which conccals it must be laid. 

These folds should not be crimped between the fingers 
but pressed together smooth and even. The folds are 
usuall}^ pressed into position by the thumb, while others 
rub them up and down against the edge of a table. 
The stitching of hems seems like a very simple form 
of sewing but carelessness is only too common and a 
nice garment is often cheapened in appearance, by 
slip-shod hemming. Working from right to left, the 
stitches of a hem should be taken up every four threads 
of the fabric. They should not be. too long but only 
enough of both parts of the hem should be taken on 
the needle to secure the hem. 

Cloth and thick materials are often finished by being 
turned over and stitched down. If hand-stitched, this 
kind of hem need not be tacked, but for sewing machine 
work it is best to do so. 

Few finishes for muslin dresses are prettier then the 
stitched hem. For children's dresses, the stitched 
hem is often worked with a silk contrasting in color, 
which gives the effect of a Russian braid. Tarletan 



1 02 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STI TCHES 

ball dress flounces, stitched with white, or with colored 
silk, look admirably, and are thus trimmed at trifling 
expense. 

Another mode of hemming used by dressmakers is 
called by French dressmakers "half hem," and is used 
for keeping the lining of dresses in position; the 
stitches are taken very far apart, and the needle is 
inserted slanting so as to take up the least piece at a 
time, in order not to show on the right side. This 
is easy enough on thick fabrics, as cloth, serge, rep, 
and poplin, but very difficult on thin silk, when, as it 
is not possible to prevent the stitches from showing 
on the right side, the stitches are much closer together, 
and set at exactly even distances. 




HEM- STITCHING 

Hem-stitching at one 
time entered largely into 
fanc3'-work only, but to- 
day it is used for hem- 
ming, sheets, pillow cases, 
towels and some table- 

HEM-STITCHING ^i^^j^g^ UapkiuS, doilieS 

and other household linen. For hem-stitching, 
measure from the edge of the fabric the space the hem 
will require. Then draw out at that distance from the 
edge five threads of the fabric. Then turn under a 
fold of the edge and baste the hem down to the drawn 
threads. Holding the wrong side of the hem towards 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 103 

you work in regular hemming stitch from right to left. 
At each stitch run the needle under five of the cross 
threads of the fabric. Repeat this the second time, 
passing the needle through the edge of the hem also. 
In this way you will find the ravelled stripe of cross 
threads of the fabric are divided into strands at the 
same time that the hem is sewed down. When only 
a few threads are drawn out the hem is worked on 
one side only; if a number of threads are drawn it 
should be worked on both sides. 

FELLING 

Felling is hemming a seam. 
It is used for finishing a seam 
with neatness and [strength. 
It is seldom used except for 
cotton, linen or silk muslin 

FELLING , , , . 

when they are made into un- 
derwear. The seams for a shirt or night-gown are 
first sewed together in a seam by hand or by the ma- 
chine, allowing a good edge. The under raw edge 
is then cut one-half narrower than the other and the 
wider is turned under like a fold of a hem and after- 
ward hemmed down flat. To make a seam that is per- 
fectly neat when felled, the edges must be seamed even 
and narrow and the turn in of the wider edge neatly 
pressed down on the fabric. 

FRENCH FELL 

The French fell is also much used for muslin under- 





FRENCH FELL 



1 04 FLA IN SE WIN G A ND FANC V S TI TCHES 

wear. It has the great recommendation of 
being quickly done, either by hand or 
machine. The edges of a seam are run 
together first with the raw edges coming 
on the right side. When they have been 
trimmed even and as narrow as will be 
consistent with strength, turn the seam and run it 
together on the wrong side taking in the raw edges. 
This manner of closing a seam has been called the 
"pudding-bag seam." If the seams, as in other felling 
are made even and narrow, a neat, strong seam is the 
result. All ready- made underwear, unless especially 
fine has its seams finished by the French fell. 

GATHERING 

To gather a ruffle correctly, the old rule was to take 
up on the needle two threads of the fabric and pass 
three. In these days it means to simply run the fab- 
ric in an even line with a thread strong enough to draw 
it together. When this has been done, push the needle 
through the fabric at the end of the gathers and wind 
the thread back and forth over the needle securing the 
gathers. Then fastening the end of the cloth to a 
leaded pin-cushion, with a coarser needle stroke each 
stitch into position, pushing the straightened stitches 
between the first finger and thumb of the left hand. 

SHIRRING 

For shirring, the line of gathers is repeated again 



PLAIN SEWING AND FANCY STITCHES 105 




and again. These lines 
should be an eighth of an 
inch apart. It is not re- 
quired to stroke the stitches 
for shirring. 



SHIRRING 



OVERCASTING 

Every seam should have its raw edges finished in 
some manner. Chapter IV. gives several ways for finish- 
ing dress waists and the ordinary and French fells are 
mentioned as before indicated in this chapter, but there 
are many seams requiring only a neat overcasting as a 
finish. This is the term used for the far apart over- 
hand stitching which binds together raw edges. Care 
must be taken not to draw the thread too tight in over- 
casting. 




TUCKING 

The great Benjamin Franklin once gave this rule for 



io6 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 

measuring a tuck to his daughter. "In measuring a 
tuck so as to make its width mathematically even at 
all points, the best way is to cut a piece of stiff card 
the depth needed for the tuck, marking the space 
between the tucks. Little triangular nicks in the card 
can be cut to indicate these measurements. Hold the 
card in the left hand with the notched edge toward the 
right, and move it along as you baste or mark. " 

The tuck must be folded and basted. Machine stitch- 
ing is best for tucks, but some will use only hand run 
tucks for infants' dresses. In cutting cloth to be tucked 
twice the depth of each finished tuck must be allowed 
in the length. 

GUSSETS 

There are two kinds of gussets. One which we 
illustrate is a square piece of fabric let in to give 
more fulness to a sleeve or any other part of a garment. 



A GUSSET 

A gusset of this kind is always cut square. It is 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 107 

first joined on one side to the side of the sleeve by a 
felled seam. Then the other side of the sleeve is after- 
ward joined to the gusset and felled like the first. The 
gusset thus apears cornerwise in the upper part of the 
sleeve, as is shown. 

The other kind of gusset is alwa5's small and cut 
square or three-cornered (a square cut in two). It is 
placed in the opening of sleeves, of nightgowns, blouses, 
etc., to prevent the tearing-open of the seams. 

When these gussets are not cut square, the edges 
are turned in on all the four sides, then the gusset is 
folded in two, so as to form a three-cornered piece 
which is sewed in its place, in overcast stitch, the 
needle taking together, at each stitch, both turnings-in 
of the piece and the side of the opening in which it 
is fitted. 

If the gusset had been cut three-cornered, turn- 
ings-in are also folded down on all sides of it ; the cor- 
ner which forms a straight angle is sewed in, in over- 
cast stitch, half-way up each side of the patch. The 
remaining part of it is then folded down on the wrong 
side of the garment and hemmed around neatly. 

PATCHING 

Patching must be done with great care, for it must 
be as invisible as possible. All the worn out part of 
the fabric which may surround the rent, must be cut 
away into a square or rectangular shape following 
exactly the thread of the fabric. 

The patch is then cut of the same dimensions as 



io8 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 

the cut-out piece, allowing an extra quarter or half- 
inch, according to the fineness of the fabric, for the 
turnings-in. 




PATCHING 

At each corner of the space cut out of the material 
a slanting stitch is made just half as deep as the extra 
space given to the patch, and the edges are turned in. 

The material is then folded down all round the edge 
of the patch which is sewed in in fine overcast stitches. 
(See illustration.) It must exactly fit the space left 
for it, and neither pucker nor cause the material to do 
so. It will surely fit in if care is taken to give to all 
the turnings-in. 

If the patch has been put in woolen material or in 
a dress, there is nothing to do but to flatten the seam 
with a warm iron \ but if it has been put in linen, the 
turnings-in must be neatly hemmed down. 

For linen there is another kind of patching which is 
neater still. The patch is put in with a felled seam, 
the felled part of the seam being ahoays formed by the 
patch, but the corners are very difficult to make per- 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 109 



fectly straight and even ; none but experienced needle- 
women will do them neatl)\ 

There is another mode of patching cloth. The patch 
is cut of the exact dimensions of the piece which has 
been cut out, as there is no need of turnings-in. It is 
sewed in on the wrong side with fine silk or cotton, 
the needle never going tli rough the cloth, but taking in 
only half its thickness. When the patch is entirely 
sewed in, the nap of the cloth must be slightly raised 
on the right side of the seam with the point of the 
needle. If the work has been neatly done the patch 
will be quite invisible, especially after having been 
ironed down. 

SEWING ON STRINGS 

We give two illustrations 

to plainly indicate the two 

ways of sewing on strings! 

the first shows a string 

sewed on in the plain cloth 

where it can not be seen 
on the right side of the garment and it is 
simply stitched on with as unobtrusive 
stitches as possible ; the second shows the string 
attached to a hem or seam on the edge of the material. 




No. I 




No. 2 



CHAPTER IX 

PLAIN SEWING AND FANCY STITCHES 
(Continued) 

SLIP-STITCHING — WHIPPING — BINDING CORDING PIPING 

DARNING — CHAIN-STITCH^CROSS-STITCH — HERRING-BONE 

STITCH LOOPS BUTTON-HOLES — SEWING ON PEARL AND 

SIMILAR BUTTONS 

SLIP-STITCHING 

Slip-Stitching is so termed because the needle must 
be slipped under the right side of the material without 
getting through it. The work is held in the hands as 
when hemming or sewing a seam, but the way of insert- 
ing the needle resembles more an overcasting stitch. 




[ ii"iilMliiti|.iHiMiiiiinniiii) 



Slip-stitch Slip-stitch Finished 

This is much used in dressmaking for fastening on 
made trimmings and in millinery it is indispensable. 
To make the stitches entirely invisible the thread 

no 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 1 1 1 




WHIPPING 



should be drawn as tight as it is possible without caus- 
ing the fabric to pucker. This stitch may be used on 
silk and other thin materials but is more easily on a 
thick fabric like velvet. 

WHIPPING 

Whipping is not 
much used, but for 
gathering fine muslin 
net, gauze or soft 
woolen materials it 
is found convenient 
and neat. As shown 
in the illustration, the 
edge of the material 
is rolled down by the thumb of the left hand as the 
work proceeds; it is sewed in overcasting stitches with 
cotton strong enough to force the material into gath- 
ers when it is drawn straight through. 

BINDING 

There are two ways of binding. One, chiefly used 
in plain sewing, consists in simply folding the bind, as 
the braid or ribbon is termed, in two over the edge of 
the material and hemming or stitching it, taking care 
to insert the needle through both sides of the braid. 
(See illustration). 

The other, used in dressmaking and for thick mate- 
rials, as it must be first sewed on and then turned 
down, is more elegant and is often used as a sort of 



112 PLAIN SE WING A ND FANCY S TITCHES 




ornament. For this way of binding, the braid is laid 
on the right side of the material as low under the edge 

as the binding is in- 
tended to be broad. 
It is run on just at 
the edge then turned 
down and hemmed 
on the other side 
No stitches are visi- 
ble, and it forms a 
neat edge. In bind- 
BiNDiNG ing scollops, care 

must be taken, when running the braid, to make suffi- 
cient allowance for the subsequent turning over, as the 
scollops would curl should the braid be drawn too 
tight. 

A good precaution, when using woolen braid, con- 
sists in previously soaking it in warm water and then 
hanging it out to dr}'. It will shrink then as much as 
it is liable to do, and will do so no more. When sewed 
on afterward it will always remain flat, and will not 
cause those puckerings which are so great an objection 
to braid bindings. 

CORDING 

Cording is generally used to prevent stretching. 
Around the armhole and whenever it is placed between 
two pieces of material, the strips of material carefully 
cut on the bias, are folded just in two, a piece of piping 
cord is slipped in and the strip is neatly stitched in 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 1 1 3 




together with both pieces of material. When the cord- 
ing is placed on the edge of the material, the strip 
must only be folded half-way down, and the cord 
insei'ted within ; this allows for the hem. 

Beginners had best tack 
down the fold of the ma- 
terial over the cord, but 
that is unnecessary for 
practised hands. The 
strip nuist then be placed 
CORDING on the edge of the right 

side of the material, the corded side downwards, 
and be stitched close under the cord, then the strip is 
turned down so that the corded edge alone shows on 
the right side of the material, and hemmed on the 
wrong side. When the garment thus corded is lined, 
the hemming must be done with slip-stitching, so that 
no stitches are visible on the right side. 

Our first illustration shows cording put on at the edge 
and partly hemmed down. Another variety of cord- 
ing is frequently used as a trimming. It is shown in 
our second illustration and con- 
sists in inserting between two 
materials one or more rows of 
DOUBLE CORDING cord more or less thick and stitch- 
ing them down, forming in this way a series of orna 
mental ribs. 

PIPING 

Piping is still another style of cording that has, under 




te 



1 1 4 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 

that name, been often in great favor for trimming 

dresses. It is put on 
plain or double and is 
generally employed to 
edge bias or straight 
bands of material. The 

^^^-x.^>&xv^_^vv^.^ws.<i..^.^^_^^ illustration shows piain- 

PIPING ly the manner of making 

and putting on pipings. 

DARNING 

Darning requires a great deal of patience and atten- 
tion. It also requires neatness, and a little practice 
will soon render it easy, if these qualities are not want- 
ing. When the darn is required to repair an acci- 
dental tear or hole, great care must be taken to render 
it as nearly invisible as poscible. For linen, cambric 
or any other material of which the ravelled threads are 
strong enough. It is best to darn with them. 

The needle is inserted in and out of the material 
taking alternately one thread over and one thread under 
the needle. At the end of each row of stitches a lit- 
tle loop of cotton must be left, and the thread must 
never be drawn very tight, otherwise the darn would be 
puckered. If the edges of the hole are jagged and irreg- 
ular, they must be neatly cut out. Great care must be 
taken on continuing the darn on the other side of the 
hole to insert the needle between the very same threads 
of the material. When one side is completed the cotton 
is cut off, and the work is begun in the opposite direc- 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 1 1 5 

tion, also beginning some distance from the torn place, 
taking care never to miss one thread or to take two at 
once. In the next row, the threads missed in the pre- 
ceeding are taken up, and those which were taken up 
must be missed in their turn. This rule must always 
be observed, as well when working over the material as 
when actually darning the hole. A loop of cotton 
must, as before, be left at the end of each row. On 
transparent materials, such as muslin or cambric, all 
these loops must be cut off when the darn is completed. 
The great art of darning is to repair the darn by lay- 
ing the threads very equally and regularly, not loose 
nor tight but just even, and then to take these threads 
up with perfect regularity so as to as much as possible, 
restore the material to its orijinal state. 

To darn cloth, silk thread is used and it is run along 
in the cloth, without any stitches showing. It is very 
easy to darn cloth in a neat manner. 

CHAIN-STITCH 

F " Regularity is the 

I chief beauty in the 

[ f chain-stitch. The same 

' .... 

] quantity 01 material 

il««^««£^£r^^^:>V^.j::.„.,i^ should be taken on the 

CHAIN-STITCH needle at each stitch. 

The thread must be kept under the needle at each 
stitch, the left-hand thumb being placed upon the 
loop formed by the thread when the needle is in- 



1 1 6 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 

serted in the ver}'^ hole from which the thread came 
out for the last stitch. Care must be taken not to 
draw the thread too tight, otherwise the material 
will be puckered. This stitch is the simplest manner 
of marking cloth. Take a pencil and draw on the ma- 
terial the initial and work over with the chain-stitch. 




CROSS-STITCH 

Cross-stitch is the best stitch for marking cloth and 
it ma}' be done in silk, cotton or woolen thread. Experi- 
enced workers become able to outline an initial with- 
out, but it is better to use a piece of coarse canvas 
when marking, after which it may be drawn out by 
threads. To make the cross-stitch as shown in our 
illustration the needle must be inserted upwards from 
under the material, a knot having previously been 
made at the end of the cotton. Each stitch is double, 
being composed of two slanting stitches crossing each 
other, and must cover the threads of the material in 
each direction. All the other stitches must be crossed 
in the same direction, and the crossing go slanting up 
from rie:ht to left. When two or more stitches have 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 1 1 7 

to be made in a row, half of each stitch must be made 
at a time, then they are all crossed at once. 

HERRING-BONE STITCH 

This stitch is often used in dressmaking for fasten- 
ing into place pieces of the linings or for tacking in 
place a seam's edges. The seams of skirts and skirt 
facings are often finished by herring-boning. It is 
also much used on flannel and cloth garments which 
are worn not lined. 

The edge of the material being folded down ojue 
small straight stitches (the stitches used for running) 
are made alternately above and under the edge. Work- 
ing thus, and always backwards, each stitch crosses 
the preceeding one. It is superfluous to say that the 
stitches must be made very regular, of the same length 
and with the same interval between them. 

LOOPS 

Loops are in many cases used instead of button- 
holes, especially for the smaller articles of apparel. 

They should be made rather thick, 
for they break easily, and should be 
fastened firmly on the edge of the 
material. Like button-holes, the 
loop must be made of a size exactly 
A LOOD corresponding with that of the but- 

ton it is meant for. The stitch is 
exactly the same as the button-hole stitch described 
below. 




1 1 8 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 

BUTTON-HOLES 

There have been many inventions presented the sew- 
ing world, for cutting button-holes, but nothing has 
been found to be better for general utility, than a pair 
of sharp medium sized scissors. For cutting round- 
ended or eyelet button-holes a cutter having a punch 
and sharp blade combined is sometimes preferred but 
with a sharp bodkin and a pair of scissors better results 
are generally obtained. Button-holes are usually cut 
at right angles with the edges they close and they 
should always be properly spaced and marked before 
being cut. • A tape-line is the best measure that can 
be used for spacing, although some prefer a card of 
the size of the space between the button-holes. By 
placing the edge of the card even with the edge of the 
basque the button-hole can be marked with chalk or a 
pencil, or even cut immediataly, along its edge. The 
proper distance from the closing edge to the front end 
of the button-hole may be indicated on this card and 
a perfectly marked button-hole is the result. This dis- 
tance varies somewhat with the size of the button to 
be used. While the front end should always be set 
back one-half inch from the closing edge, when a large 
button is used, the distance must be a few threads 
more than one-half the diameter of the button. 

When button-holes are worked in cross-barred or 
plaid fabrics, they should be cut to follow parallel 
with the cross bar or plaid, even when a slight deflec- 
tion from a right angle to the closing edge is made. 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 1 19 

The same thing may be permissible when the closing 
edge is considerably curved. 

When cutting a button-hole which is to be made over 
three or more thicknesses, there is great difficulty in 
getting them all cut exactlj' alike; when the fabrics 
are thick and elastic they are likely to slip. There 
have been various methods tried to prevent this. The 
best is to baste them all firmly together along the two 
lines made by the front and back ends of the button- 
holes, before they are cut. 

Another method, which, however, has its objection- 
able features is to take a mild mucilage made of shellac 
dissolved in alcohol and with this paste the fabrics 
together where the button-holes are to be worked. The 
alcohol soon evaporates, still fabrics are very likely to 
become smeared or their colors will run together 
when the pasting is done. 

Another way of holding fabrics together while cutting 
and working button-holes, is to mark the button-hole 
on the cloth and machine stitching though all the 
thicknesses on each side of the mark. These stitchings 
should be just far enough apart to allow the cutting 
of the button-hole between. 

Whatever method is chosen, as has been before stated, 
in cutting a button-hole great care must be taken to cut 
the underside exactly like the upper. To do this where 
there is any thickness is difficult. When the punch 
is used it is pushed through sharp and direct at one end 
and the sharp pointed scissors make the rest of the 



1 20 PLA INSE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 



cutting a simpler matter, but when the scissors alone are 
used, one sharp point must be depended upon to do 
as good work as the punch, but this requires a very 
steady hand. 



No. 1 



No. 2 
BUTTON-HOLES 



No. 3 



We illustrate the three kinds of plain button-holes 
used in ladies' and childern's garments. The first, or No. 
I, illustrated is the button-hole made in cotton and lin- 
en fabrics, the second, or No. 2, is the customary but- 
ton-hole for dresses and similar garments, while the 
third, or No. 3, is the cloak or wrap button-hole. 

When the button-hole has been cut, before proceed- 
ing to work it, as it is called, its edges must be stayed. 
For a button-hole like No. i, a single thread run like 
a bar along each side will be sufficient. A single stitch 
at each end of the button-hole^will give you this bar. 
When you commence to work the button-hole begin at 
the back end and work to the front edge of the garment 
always. The button-hole shown in No. i is barred at 
each end. This is done by taking up a tiny bit of the 
material on the needle for five or six stitches across the 
end, then turning the goods and working to the other 
edges of the button-hole back to the other end where 
a similar bar is ?*-itched as a finish. For the button 
holes, Nos. 2 and 3 only the back end is barred. For No. 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 121 

2, which is used for dresses the front end of the button- 
hole is just simply worked around in regular stitches. 
The loops along the opening are, of course closely 
crowded together, but the intervals of the stitches 
should be regular at their outer edge. 

If one round end is required as is shown in No. 3, a 
punch is the best thing to use and in connection with 
the sharp scissors, but when the punch is not at hand, 
take up one or two threads on a pin at the circular 
end and cut the pin out. This will leave a small cir- 
cular place to work around with the same stitch used 
on the sides. 

All button holes should be dampened, (if the material 
will permit) after they are worked and then thoroughly 
pressed through a cloth. Large ones like No. 3, worked 
in stiff lined cloth should have their edges drawn together 
with a basting thread before pressing. After the press- 
ing is done, the round punch should De run up and 
down in the eyelet or round end to give the proper shape. 
After which the bastings of the button-holes may be 
removed and the appearance will be as above. 

It seems almost unnecessary to go into the details 
of the stitch used in working button-holes, but for the 
benefit of any reader who has never seen it done we 
give a minute description. Draw the needle with a 
single thread through the cloth from the under to the 
upper side of the cloth and at the back end of the but 
ton-hole. In ordinary cloth the stitch should be taken- 
about three threads in from the cut button hole edge. 



122 PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHE S 



About two threads further along take another stitch 
holding the thread below where the needle comes out. 
This gives a twirl to the thread of the stitch and this 
must be held in place along the button-hole's edge. 
The repetition gives the desirable cord-like finish to 
the button-hole which covers raw edges and is very 
durable. Care must be taken to make the stitches the 
same size and the same distance apart. It is best not 
to draw the thread too tight at each stitch. 




THE BOUND BUTTON-HOLE 

The bound button-hole is much vised for heavy cloths 
and for garments made with interlinings, as well as 
ordinary lining. 

Our illustrations give one an idea of the process of 
making a bound button-hole and again just how it looks 



when finished. 



When the garment demanding a bound 




A FANCY BUTTON-HOLE 

button-hole is lined and interlined, it is best to baste 
all around where the button-hole is to be cut so as to 



PLAIN SE WING AND FANCY STITCHES 123 

hold all the parts firmly in one position in relation to one 
another. In cutting the hole use your sharpest scissors, 
or the sharp chisel can be employed in this instance 
to advantage, for a clean even cut clear through is 
most essential. Then take a narrow piece of silk, 
satin, lasting or whatever is to be used for binding the 
button-hole, and sew it securely all around the open- 
ing. Draw the binding as tightly around the ends of 
the hole as possible in this sewing. Then fasten the 
two ends of the binding together and turn it through 
the hole and hem its other edge down flat on the under 
side of the garment. 




A FANCY BUTTON-HOLE 

We also illustrate two button-holes which are worked 
in fancy stitches. They are simply ornamental but can 
be readily worked from the plain pictures presented. 

HOW TO SEW ON PEARL AND SIMILAR BUTTONS 

Insert the threaded needle on the wrong side of the 
cloth to which the button is to be attached, at about 
three-quarters of an inch from the place for the button 
and slip it between the goods to the required spot. 
Then bring the needle out on the wrong side, and after 



124 PLAIN SEWING AND FANCY STITCHES 

fastening the thread securely by two or three stitches, 
pass it through to the right side. 

From underneath put the needle through the right 
hand lower hole of the button and then through the 
left-hand upper one and through the cloth, thus mak- 
ing an oblique stitch and drawing the button into 
place. From the under side of the cloth pass the 
needle through the right hand upper hole and thence 
put it through the left-hand lower hole and draw 
it out through the cloth on the wrong side, and so 
complete the cross-stitch. This should be repeated 
four or live times more. Then pass the needle to the 
right-side of the cloth under the button and wind the 
cotton several times around under the button to form a 
stem, which raises it a little from the cloth and also 
strengthens it. Fasten the sewing on of the button 
by three or four repeated stitches on the wrong side of 
the cloth and, then slipping the needle to the right side, 
cut off the thread. 



CHAPTER X 
UNDERWEAR 

MATERIALS CUT, FIT AND MAKING CHEMISE DRAWERS 

CORSET-COVERS — NIGHTGOWNS PETTICOATS — DRESS- 

ING-SACQUES — WRAPPERS APRONS 

MATERIALS 

The articles composing a suit of ladies' underwear 
vary according to the dictates of fashion. The stjde 
and make of a dress must to a certain extent control 
the style and make of the garment worn beneath it. 
For instance, under a basque made to fit the form as 
close as the skin of the wearer, a full chemise gathered 
on to a band and with full puffed short sleeves, can 
not be worn ; neither can a full round dress skirt hang 
in the most desirable manner when a petticoat beneath 
is gored to fit tight over the hips. 

Before and up to the '8o's a set of ladies' underwear 

consisted of drawers, chemise, petticoat and skirt with 

the addition of a gown for night wear. These articles 

are still and will always remain in vogue, but they 

are not so absolutely worn by every woman as then. 

125 



126 UNDERWEAR 

The wholesale manufacture of woven underwear 
revolutionized the fashions in such garments. The 
neatness of their fit, their admirable wearing qualities, 
their comparative cheapness and their unlimited variety, 
quality, design and size appealed to every women. 

They have come to stay most probably. Indeed it 
seems they only continue to increase in favor year after 
year. 

They come in silk, woolen, linen and cotton. In 
shirts or vests, long and short sleeved, high and all 
sorts of low necks. In drawers of different sizes, 
shapes and lengths and in the combination garments 
which var}^ as much in style and make. Even the much 
abused tights are in the highest favor among the most 
modest and best dressed women. 

These woven garments mean a minimum of weight 
in clothing and the freest use and development of the 
muscles of the entire body. For the development of 
the trul}^ artistic in dress they are of the highest import- 
ance. They do not destroy the outlines of the human 
form but are made and conform to the rules which are 
in accordance to the truest lines. 

The greatest obstacle reformers of woman's dress 
encounter, is that the majority of their sisters do not 
care to be conspicuous by any innovation. But the 
wearing of this elastic and well fitted underwear does 
not render them so. 

However, in connection with and often independent 
of, these "first principle garments," if we may term them 



UNDERWEAR 127 

so, are the additional pieces that must be provided for 
every well dressed woman viz : the drawers, chemise, 
corset, corset-cover, petticoats and the night-gown. 

For these, silk, linen, lawn, percale, cambric, mus- 
lin, flannel and other similar fabrics are used according 
to the season, climate and taste of the wearer. Fashion 
sometimes seems to exhaust itself in novelties for under- 
wear and then she suggests colors in it by way of 
variety, but, the best taste never accepts such an edict 
and it as regularly dies a natural death, without much 
more than a ripple of consideration. The first law that | 
should govern underwear is purity,and dyes even of the 
best quality do not give this nor do garments dyed even 
in the most delicate shades of color suggest purity. The 
fad at one time prevailing of entire suits of black under- 
wear was certainly revolting and anything but whole- 
some. 

The use of the delightful China silk is responsible for 
most of our colored underwear. When of the best qual- 
ity this silk washes like cotton, even in the most fragile 
colors as well as the white. 

Some fastidious women prefer silk to any other 
fabric, even fine linen, and for all the different pieces, 
while others will tell you they can only use linen for 
everything except nightgowns, when they choose the 
China silk. Cotton cloths in turn have their devotees. 
Of course thej^ are cheaper which is a recommendation 
and they certainly do possess equal softness with silk 
when as fine, and they wear as well as good linen. 



128 UNDERWEAR 

CUT, FIT AND MAKING 

Whatever the material, the cut and fit of these gar 
ments are usually the same. That is, a silk chemise is 
cut and sewed in just the same way a cotton chemise 
is done. In the long ago, when our grandmama's made 
their chemises, they used all the material possible and 
fulled it on to bands around the neck and arms, with 
about two yards width around the waist. Drawers 
and skirts were equally voluminous. A well dressed 
woman should have her under garments as neatly and 
snugly fitted as those worn over them. 

In cutting out the garment, a good pattern is about as 
indispensable as one for a dress. Still another gar- 
ment that fits well can be utilized, if the cutter exer- 
cises care and common sense. 

Each garment should be basted together, tried on 
and alterations carefuU}' made unless the pattern used 
has often been used before. The daintiest underwear 
is made by hand but very good garments and very 
pretty ones are made hy machine entirely. The chief 
objection one can make to machine made underwear 
is that it is usually over trimmed and too fussy. Too 
much tucking and ruffling is vulgar. Delicate daintily 
made pieces of comparative plainness are to be alwaj's 
preferred to over decoration poorly done. Whether 
done by hand or machine all seams with raw edges 
are stitched and felled. 

In the chapter immediatel}^ preceeding both plain and 
French felling, as well as other stitches are explained 



UNDERWEAR 129 

at length but for the convenience of tlie reader we 
repeat. The best way to make the ordinary flat fell is 
to sew the two edges together in an ordinary seam and 
cut off the edge of one side one-half its depth ; then 
turn the uncut edge over the cut or narrower edge and 
then fold them down flat and stitch them into position. 

Ready-made underclothing is usually made by using 
the French fell for all its seams. It does not provide 
as neat and smooth a finish as the ordinary fell which 
is perfectly flat, but is a trifle more rapidly done and 
wears very well. 

To make the French fell lay the wrong side of the pieces 
together and stitch them in a narrow seam, pare off 
the edges smooth and close to the stitching, then turn 
the pieces at the seam so that the right sides are 
together and on the wrong ^de make another seam as 
deep as the edges enclosed. This makes all raw edges 
covered and firmly sewed. 

THE CHEMISE 

The chemise will probably never pass entirely out of 
style although at times it is not generally worn. They 
are certainly bidky garments unless neatly fitted and 
made. They are made with the fulness required in 
the skirt, gathered into a band over the shoulders or 
they are made in what is known as the sacque shape, 
which is a very neat, comfortable undergarment and 
adds nothing to the size of the wearer. These sacque 
shapes are cut to fit without fulness over the back and 
front and four darts are introduced below the bust to 



130 UNDERWEAR 

shape it into the waist there. The armseyes are not 
supplied with sleeves and only finished by embroidery 
or lace. Some chemises have shoulder straps that but- 
ton on and may be removed when worn under a low 
corsage ; the garment being so closely fitted by darts 
it does not need to be suspended from bands over the 
shoulders. 

The trimming of the chemise must be limited to the 
neck and the end. Embroidery done of the material 
itself is the most durable trimming but Hamburg and 
Russian embroideries, Valenciennes, and Torchon laces 
trim in an exquisite manner. The end of the chemise 
may be finished by a hem two to four inches deep 
or by ruffles two to six inches wide, which may be 
edged with lace, tucks or embroidery according to the 
material and the taste of the wearer. 

Ribbons add a great deal to the beauty of under- 
wear. They are used in narrow widths run through 
casings of the material itself or through woven head- 
ings which may be used with both lace and embroidery. 
Then narrow ribbons are drawn through and tied in 
coquettish loops. Bows and rosettes of wider ribbons 
are set about on the shoulders or in front on chemises 
at the will of the wearer. 

In making a chemise when it has been cut, baste up 
the seams and, if there are darts try the garment on 
before stitching. Then sew up the side seams and 
fell them down. Then hem or trim the end after which 
finish the neck and armseyes. 



UNDERWEAR 131 

DRAWERS 

If any difference is shown, drawers should be made 
of heavier linen, cambric or muslin than any other 
piece of underwear, as there is more strain upon them. 
When closed drawers are used they should be made 
with a deep yoke over the hips, thus bringing the 
closing at the back below the stiff corset. The best 
patterns for open drawers have an overlapping band 
at the back and the seat is cut longer in proportion. 
If this is not done the drawers are likely to draw 
apart and not give the needed protection. 

The lower part of the drawers admits of considera- 
ble trimming. Clusters of tucks separated by feather 
stitching, insertions of lace or embroidery and lace or 
embroidered ruffles will all be seen on one pair. 

In making drawers, first do all this trimming on each 
leg and then stitch together and fell each leg. If they 
are closed drawers, seam and fell the legs together and 
then put on the yoke or band. If they are open draw- 
ers, after the legs are closed, face each side with a 
straight piece of the material and then join to the 
band. Use medium sized flat pearl buttons for the 
closings. 

CORSET-COVERS 

A corset-cover should fit as perfectly as a basque 
and no better pattern can be found for a corset-cover 
than a tried and true basque pattern. 

Corset-covers are cut high or low neck as the wearer 
chooses and a great number are high behind with open 



132 UNDERWEAR 

V-shaped or square-necked front. Sometimes very 
small sleeves are added or else the armseye isfaced, or 
scolloped or a narrow embroidered or lace edge finishes 
them. The corset-cover can not be comfortably worn 
over a chemise, the woven silk, lisle or wool vest 
is its proper accompaniment. 

It should be cut in the same number of pieces as a 
plain round basque; which consists, for a medium sized 
woman, of front, back and under-arm gores. When an 
extra side-body piece is required to give the proper 
curves at the waist to a basque, they must be added to 
the corset-cover worn under it. 

It should be basted together neatl}' and fitted before 
its seams are stitched. During this fitting the neck 
should be cut into the desired shape, if it is not to be 
a high-neck cover. After a good fit is obtained, stitch 
the seams and fell them. Either the ordinary flat fell 
or the French fell ma}' be used the former being decid- 
edly the better method, because it is a flat finish. The 
front closing edges should be curved like a well fitted 
basque and will in that case require to be faced. This 
facing should be made wide enough to take a button-hole 
and the cover should be closed with small pearl but- 
tons and button-holes to correspond, about two inches 
apart. 

The bottom of the corset-cover should be neatly 
finished by a narrow half-inch hem and the neck should 
be given a half-inch facing unless the trimming gives 
the necessar}^ stay. When Hamburg embroidery is 



UNDERWEAR 133 

used, the top of the corset-cover can be turned over a 
half inch and then stitched down on the embroidered 
edge. 

This is the same as a facing but when lace is used 
to trim, the facing of the same material as the cover 
must be supplied. 

NIGHTGOWNS 

The style in nightgowns varies more than any other 
under garment, but the gown made with the long 
breadths gathered into a yoke is always in favor. The 
square, round or pointed yoke may be cut over a basque 
or high-neck corset-cover and a good fit obtained. For 
serviceable and inexpensive gowns, fine muslin simply 
trimmed with tucks and a lace edging can not be sur- 
passed. The yoke should be made double with seams 
on the shoulders and a closing in front. The shoulder 
seam of four thicknesses should be stitched together so 
that the seam is within. The seams of the skirt of the 
gown should be felled. The French fell can be used 
in this case without inconvenience. The sleeves should 
be made and completely trimmed before they are 
inserted in the armseye. The front of the gown should 
be closed with small pearl buttons and button-holes 
four inches apart. For more luxurious gowns ribbons 
are used and tied instead of buttons and button-holes. 
Silk, batiste, cambric, mull and other materials are 
used and make very luxurious nightgowns. Ladies 
who suffer from cold, wear gowns made of fleeced mus- 
lin or piqu^ which are made with but little fulness 



134 UNDERWEAR 

and with only scolloped ruffles in the neck, front and 
sleeves. The sacque-shaped gowns are best for these 
with a pointed yoke placed as an under-facing for 
extra warmth. 

• PETTICOATS 

Short petticoats are usually made with a yoke fitting 
perfectly over the hips and stomach and closed with 
buttons at the back. The straight breadths fall just 
below the knee and whether made of flannel, muslin 
or silk have but little fulness. The best flannel skirts 
are made of flannel which is half cotton as it will not 
shrink when washed. These seams are to be sewed 
by hand and laid open, tacked into place by the simple 
cross-stitch done in silk thread. The bottoms of these 
skirts are usually embroidered. Scolloped edges of 
embroidery do not wear well and the hem-stitched 
flannel edges with embroidery above and a little lace 
run along beneath is the prettiest finish. The full 
part of the skirt is gathered where it is joined to the 

yoke. 

Short cambric petticoats are sometimes made with 
a yoke also, but not always. They are often elabor- 
ately trimmed with lace, embroidery and hand-stitching. 
This is permissible as they do not receive the hard 
usage the longer petticoats must. 

Trained petticoats should never be worn ; they soil 
immediately and never follow the train of the dress 
and are generally all around nuisances. The petticoat 
for wear under the ordinary walking skirt is cut three 



UNDERWEAR 135 

inches shorter than the dress-skirts worn over it. 
It is made with front and side-gores and straight back 
breadth. The top is finished by a yoke when the hips 
are large enough to require it. The seams should be 
stitched and over-cast and the bottom of the skirt 
finished by a two-inch hem. The petticoat should 
measure around the bottom two and one-half yards, for 
a medium sized woman. The trimming of these skirts 
should be done on deep flounces of scanty fulness ; 
tucks, lace and embroider}^ being used together and 
alone. The same ornamentation is applied to silk, 
cambric and to cloth walking length petticoats. 

DRESSING-SACQUES 

A dressing-sacque is best made with a close fitted 
back and a loose front. An ordinary basque pattern 
that fits may be used as a pattern for tliese sacques. 
However, in cutting the front parts do not curve the 
closing edges and the darts need not be cut out or 
taken into consideration at all. This gives the desired 
freedom for the arms and body generally. Neverthe- 
less some ladies use the first dart to draw the garment 
in a little to the figure. 

Whatever the style desired in that respect, cut the 
sacque out of 5^our material, silk, wool, cotton or lace 
as it may be, and baste up the seams and lay the hem 
down each side of the closing in front. Try the gar- 
ment on and if alterations are necessarj^, make them 
before stitching the seams. After the seams are tightly 
sewed, if the material is a cotton or linen fabric, fell 



136 UNDERWEAR 

them neatly. If heav}' silk or some similar material 
that will not fray is used, the edges of the seams may 
be notched in fine notches and the seams themselves 
should then be pressed open flat. Cloth, cashmere, 
flannel and most woolen fabrics are finished in this 
manner. When the sacque is made of China silk the 
seams should be finished as are cambrics and mull. 
Generally full sleeves held in by a band at the wrists, 
or simply flowing sleeves complete these garments. 

Perhaps the daintiest dressing-sacques are made of 
white nainsook and are trimmed with insertions of 
both lace and nainsook embroidery and an edge of 
gathered lace. Torchon and Valenciennes laces are 
always the prettiest and wear best. Ribbons in white 
or some bright becoming shade of color are knotted 
and tacked on according to the taste of the wearer. 
Sometimes belts of these ribbons are added but this 
gives too much primness to a garment which should 
be free and loose to be a typical dressing-sacque. 

WRAPPERS 

The garment called a wrapper conveys so widely dif- 
fering meanings that it is difficult to give definite sug- 
gestions concerning its development. The comfortably 
fitted princess dress, however, is the best t3'pe of 
wrapper and upon this the various changes of loose 
fronts, Watteau backs, long and walking length wrap- 
pers are rung. There are two faults into which wrap- 
pers may fall, they may be made to be entirely too 
negligee to be worn except as a dress for the bedroom 



UNDERWEAR 137 

and they may be made as elaborate as an evening or 
dinner gown and so lose all characteristics of comfort. 

But there is no prettier house toilette a woman can 
provide herself than a neatly fitted princess wrapper 
made to touch the floor several inches at the back and 
to fit neat. A pretty becoming color and enough trim- 
ming to give it a certain daintiness are all that are 
required. 

Cotton cloth wrappers are seldom lined and the seams 
are long and often bias, consequently they must be 
securely stitched and stayed. 

French cambric makes the best lining when the 
wrapper is made of silk or woolen fabrics. The bot- 
tom of the skirt may be faced with the same. Noth- 
ing heavier is required. The sleeves and neck are 
finished just as a basque should be. If the front of 
the wrapper is made to fit snug, then its closing edges 
should be curved as those of a basque, and must be 
faced, but when it falls loose, the straight hemmed 
edges are easily finished. For invalids and for bath- 
robes there are blanket wrappers made of thick and 
fine colored blankets, with the woven border serving as 
the only trimming. The border is usually only suffi- 
cient to appear on the lower edge and as the pockets, 
cuffs and collar. A very thick woolen cord and tassel 
are added to hold the robe in at the waist. This wrapper 
is usually cut with as few seams as possible. 

APRONS 

The simplest cooking apron one can make is a long 



138 UNDERWEAR 

square apron hemmed on the bottom, gathered at the 
top and fastened around the waist by a narrow band 
which ends in strings which are tied at the back. Two 
widths of gingham or linen are required to make it. 
To make the apron one yard long, two and one-quarter 
yards of gingham are required. Cut off two lengths, 
each thirty-nine inches long and gore one of them, 
so that it makes two gores out of the one. As 
gingham is alike on both sides, this will give a side- 
gore on each side of the other width which will be used 
for the front of the apron. Join the gores at the top 
to the straight breadth, with their respective bias edges, 
thus leaving their selvage edges for the back edges of 
the apron. Stitch the two seams and over-cast them, 
then pare off even the lower edge of the apron. After- 
ward baste down a three-inch hem and stitch it in 
place. Gather the top of the apron, make a band of 
the six inches of cloth remaining and join the gathers 
to it, for eighteen inches in the middle of it and fell 
it down over all rough edges. This apron can be made 
with a sewing machine in an hour's time. If a pocket 
is added on the front of the apron and a square bib 
above the waistband, another half yard of material must 
be provided and then a most complete apron is the 
result. Narrow, straight aprons made of one width of 
linen cambric, silk or mohair are often made into 
quite dressy affairs by adding insertion and edges of 
lace or bands and edges of embroidery. Dainty little 
aprons made of fancy towels and large sized handker- 



UNDERWEAR 139 

chiefs are also easily concocted, and the lace-striped 
Swisses and piques, make most bewitching aprons when 
knots of bright ribbon are given them on the bibs 
and pockets. 



CHAPTER XI 

INFANTS' WARDROBES 

HOW TO DRESS BABY A SIMPLE LAYETTE HOW TO MAKE 

IT CAPS AND CLOAKS NURSE s' SUITS. 

HOW TO DRESS BABY 

In dressing baby the best rule is the golden rule 
every time. Dress the bab}' as you would like to be 
dressed if you were a little one. Heaven lies all about us 
in our infancy, we are told, but how can it be seraphic 
to be put through a summer, bound up in a bandage, 
a diaper, a pinning blanket, two skirts with bands 
like bandages and a long double* gown. It is no use 
talking, a baby can not be angelic when he can not kick 
one pink toe. In such rigging as enumerated above, 
it is no wonder he protests with his lungs. 

It seems strange that in everything else but dress- 
ing baby, we have progressed beyond our grandmothers, 
but when it comes to that, we find our bump of vener- 
ation wonderfully enlarged. Grandmother dressed 
mother in bands and loads of flannel, hence the new 

baby must be made uncomfortable. 

140 



INFANTS' WARDROBES 



141 



All honor to our grandmothers, they did admirably 
in the light they had, yet we must protest, that our 
girls of to-day can do better. Grandmother dressed 
baby too tight and too much. 

"But, " says the old lady, "the baby must be bandaged 
or he will be out of shape. " 




AN INFANT'S WARDROBE 
Trust the shape of baby to nature. She never does 
her work in a careless way. The abdominal wall is elas- 
tic and intended to distend, and if allowed to expand 
evenly there can be no rupture. Then confiscate the 
pinning blanket and so many long skirts. The objec- 
tion to these is that they clotlie the chest and legs too 



142 INFANTS' WARDROBES 

warmly and leave the shoulders and arms Avith almost 
nothing. 

In our changeable climate it is a difficult thing to 
dress the babies properly to meet the demands of cool 
nights succeeding hot days, and sudden changes within 
an hour. However, if they are neither over-dressed 
nor under-dressed, much can be done. 

It is with genuine pleasure all lovers of babies note 
the increased enthusiasm on the subject of comforta- 
ble by clothes. The idea of "Reformed clothes for 
Babies" has taken as firm hold of the feminine com- 
munity as has the "Reformed Dress for Women," and 
mothers are putting their common sense to work and, 
while they buy many pieces, they make the rest or 
have them made as they should be. 

The principle of such dressing is extremely simple. 
It is to have nothing that frets or binds the small 
bunch that is to be kept warm. It is now held that 
innumerable colics and griping pains are made by the 
tight pressure of the flannel bands about the tender body, 
which really also occasion too much warmth, and which 
the old-time nurse thought good for nothing if not 
bound with a grip of iron about the little bowels, as if 
they would fall to pieces but for its maintaining 
strength. Many a rupture in later life, can no doubt 
be traced to the use of this heathenish garment, which, 
if it is not yet abolished altogether, is treated in a very 
different fashion, being more frequently knitted of soft 
elastic wools, than stitched in stout flannels, and 



INFANTS' WARDROBES 143 

allowed to give warmth and not expected to yield 
support. 

The long skirts, too, in the hands of those mothers 
who are more careful of their babies than of their 
vanities, are going the way of the old fashions, and 
it is no longer demanded of the tiny limbs that they 
shall uphold all that hanging weight of embroidered 
flannels and tucked cambrics and wrought work — poor 
little limbs that have often been still futher maltreated 
by never being allowed temporarily to support the 
weight of the child, until they are suddenly called upon 
to do so when the child has become so heavy as to almost 
surely bend them by the weight. Nowadays the pet- 
ticoats are shortened very early and the baby is never 
found less lovely nor less able to rule the house in its 
pretty shoes and stockings than in its cloud of draper- 
ies. 

A SIMPLE LAYETTE 

Every baby should have provided for it at least three 
wool shirts. These are now to be purchased woven 
in fine ribs, of excellent shape, with close neck and 
long sleeves. They are very elastic and slip on and off 
easil3\ They are long enough to come well down over 
the body and provide sufficient warmth and protection 
from stray drafts. 

Two soft flannel skirts with bands fastened at the 
back and straps over the shoulders and as many cam- 
bric skirts must also be provided. 

Six slips of cambric, cut sacque shape, are properly 



144 INFANTS' WARDROBES 

for night wear but likewise serve at first for day dresses. 
A fine flannel wrapper and two soft cashmere sacques 
shcul-d also appear, as well as one cambric dress, with 
a )^oke. A dozen squares of linen diaper and a few pairs 
of knitted socks or boots complete the simplest of 
layettes. 

HOW TO MAKE IT 

The flannel skirts are made of two lengths of white 
flannel, seven-eighths of a yard long. They are seamed 
together with silk thread, the seams neatly pressed 
open and catch-stitched down. A deep hem secured b}' 
a pretty fancy silk stitch should finish the bottom. At 
the top the breadths should be neatly shirred and joined 
to a band twenty inches around the bod}'' and four 
inches deep. 

This band should be provided with two tape bands to 
pass over the little arms. Safety pins are used to close 
it at the back; buttons and button-holes can not be used 
to advantage as the size of the tiny body will vary-ever}^ 
day. 

The little cambric skirts are made in the same way, 
except that the hems are felled into place and a row 
of gathers is all that is required at the top of the 
breadths. 

The slips are made open in the front the entire length. 
The four seams, two shoulder and two under-arm seams, 
should be neatly felled. These fells must be "made 
small and soft. A narrow hem should finish the fronts 
and bottom of the slip as well as the small sleeves. 



INFANTS' WARDROBES 145 

The neck must be faced with a narrow bias piece of the 
cambric and a fine drawing-string should be run through 
it. Four small pearl bottons with corresponding but- 
ton-holes, placed two inches apart beginning at the neck 
are all the closing required. Below them the slip may 
hang free over the cambric skirt beneath. A little nar- 
row lace on the neck and sleeves is all the trimming 
allowable. These slips should be, however, made with 
the daintiest neatness. When made by hand alone 
they are most in keeping with lovely bab3'hood. 

The flannel and cashmere wrapper and sacque are 
made with as few seams as possible and they should 
be pressed open and catch-stitched with silk. Their 
edges should be button-holed or pinked in small scol- 
lops. The wrapper should be sacque shaped and one 
yard in length only. 

Some mothers make the mistake of using colored 
flannels or cashmeres for these garments. Don't use 
even the lightest tints. The dyes are likely to stain 
the tender flesh and white is the on/y thing for baby- 
hood. 

The first cambric dress should have a yoke of fine 
tucks and a skirt one yard long gathered on to it. Fine 
tucks and lace-edge should finish the bottom of the 
skirt and sleeves and the neck of the yoke. It should 
be closed at the back by knots of white satin ribbon. 
The cambric sash sometimes added is not pretty or 
appropriate. The finest cambric, lace and needle-work 



146 INFANTS' WARDROBES 

is not out of place on this garment, but too much work 
and lace are. 

The linen squares are simply squares the size of diaper 
width. They will have two selvage edges and the 
other two must be finished with flat, soft hems. 

Always keep soft socks on the baby's feet. If allowed 
to rub his bare feet together constantly, he is liable to 
have crooked or bow-legs. If already so inclined, the 
tendency is greatly increased. 

These socks or bootines may be made of cashmere, cut 
in one piece with a felled seam running along the sole 
and up over the toes, or they may be knitted or cro- 
chetted in Saxony wool. In every case let them be 
pure white. 

CAPS AND CLOAKS 

Caps for infants to wear outdoors are made of muslin 
or of silk. They should never be worn indoors. Pretty 
French caps are made of fine India muslin with tucks 
in the center and shirrings to draw them into shape 
around the face and head. Simple little frills of the 
muslin edged with lace are the trimmings, with a 
rosette made of the same, placed on top. These are 
made quite warm by adding a lining of China silk, or 
still warmer by a quilted silk lining. 

Cloaks are made in both cape and sacque shapes. 
The sacques with round or square yokes are perhaps 
most popular always. Silk, cashmere, flannel and 
repped piqud are the materials used and lace or em- 
broidery are the appropriate trimmings. Knots and 



INFANTS' WARDROBES 147 

ties of white satin ribbons add much to their dainti- 
ness, whatever the material used. 
nurses' suits 

A nurse's suit consists of a cap, apron and cloak to 
be worn over a plain dress. The cap has a mob crown 
of a white swiss or India muslin, plain or embroidered. 
Some erect frills of the same material placed across 
the front are the regulation style, but a gathered nar- 
row ruffle on all the edge is also used as a finish and 
strings to tie behind are added generally. The apron 
is made of two straight breadths of wide Victoria lawn 
with two or three broad tucks across the bottom, or 
some wide embroidery may finish the edge. The 
breadths of lawn are gathered at the top and joined to 
a band that has ordinary strings to tie at the back. 
It should always be long enough to reach to the 
bottom of the dress over which it is worn. The cloak 
is made of cloth or flannel in brown, maroon or gray 
generally, and is of deep circular shape. It should 
be as long as the dress and shirred from the neck to 
the shoulders or gathered on to a round yoke. It should 
be completed at the neck by a full white muslin scarf 
or neck-tie, Hemmed by a narrow hem along the sides 
and a deep hem-stitched hem on each end. 



CHAPTER XII 
CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 

AMERICAN MOTHERS SHORT CLOTHES SMALL BOY's 

CLOTHES DRESS FOR GIRLS AN APRON 

AMERICAN MOTHERS 

In no country is so much attention paid by mothers 
to the dainty costuming of their little ones as in Amer- 
ica. French women are as a rule too vain and frivo- 
lous to care how their children are dressed, and when 
they do think of it, they array them in impossible 
garments often low-necked and short-sleeved and with 
ballet like skirts reaching to the knees, and their 
unformed little bodies are cramped into tight-fitting 
spider-waisted bodices, the counterpart of the whale- 
boned ones of their mammas. In England, where the 
rising generation is kept strictly in the background, 
sensible but homel}^ and inexpensive dressing is the 
rule, and English children are generally little frights 
in brown Holland pinafores and stuff gowns. In Ger- 
many economy is paramount, and a dark woolen or 

148 



CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 149 

linen garment which will not "show dirt" is the ordi- 
nary attire of the flaxen-haired little maiden. In spite 
of this marked tendency to simplicity, we owe much 
of the picturesque beauty of the modern child's dress 
to the clever English woman, Kate Greenaway, the 
illustrator of the familiar nursery rhymes. Dress the 
children prettily, but do not make dolls of them (this 
refers mostly to little girls) ; childhood, like "beauty 
unadorned is adorned the most." A child that is be- 
decked with silks and rare laces loses that chief charm 
of childhood, simplicity, and one ought as soon think 
of dyeing the russet gown of the dear little Jenny 
Wren. Few children are unattractive in themselves, 
but many are made so by the lack of good, sensible 
taste shown in their dress by those having them in 
charge. A neatly-dressed child is a pleasant sight, 
but one loaded down with silks and laces is really to 
be pitied. To be sure, for a best or company dress, 
it is allowed to have as rich a material as is consistent 
with the purse of the parent, but it is this over-dress- 
ing during play or school hours that is harmful to the 
child both physically and morally. Physically, as she 
can take but little part in the games of her compan- 
ions when she is afraid of soiling or rumpling a nice 
dress ; consequently, she loses that exercise the lack of 
which, in after years, will have so damaging an effect 
upon her constitution, leaving it fragile and delicate. 
We have in mind the case of a little girl, beautiful 
in both face and disposition, who, having lost both 



I50 CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 

parents when she was but two years of age, and not 
having any near relatives, at least none that appeared 
to want to take the care of her, was adopted by a 
wealthy lady. This woman never had any children of 
her own, so she could scarcely be blamed for trying to 
make the child happy, as she thought, by clothing her 
in the richest kind of fabrics, trimmed with rare laces 
and ornamented by broad, heavy sashes. During the 
summer months, when other little ones, clad in cool, 
loose-fitting garments, played about, she sat or walked 
with the nurse-maid in the shade, and watched them 
wistfully. She could not take any part in their merry 
games, for she was loaded with finery and must not 
crumple or soil her clothes, and after a little while she 
had no desire to join them, but would walk by them 
with uplifted head, manner and gait, in imitation of 
some popular society belle. Yes, dress the children 
sensibly. The world has no place for miniature soci- 
ety belles j it wants natural, lovable little children. 

SHORT CLOTHES 

The first short dresses for boys and girls are usually 
made alike. They are yoke slips just long enough to 
reach to the ankles when the child stands. The same 
materials may be used for them as are used for the 
long dresses of infants. These are put on when the 
child is six months of age. When it is eighteen months 
old, belts may be inserted in these little dresses although 
the slips are often continued until the child is three 
years of age. 



CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 



151 



Fashion dictates whether their skirts shall be long 
or short but just here a protest may be entered against 
the long ones. 

There is nothing more conducive to the health and 
happiness of children than the free use of their limbs. 
When the long unfolding skirts are worn they are 
hampered in every way. The baby can not kick, the 
two year-old little ones have their motion impeded and 
the four-year-old child can not run because her clothes 
hold her back. 

SMALL boys' clothes 

Bo3's should wear trousers as soon as 
they begin to run easily. The Knick- 
erbocker skirts must be retained until 
they are large enough to run around out 
of doors but after that time small boys 
should be given all the freedom of move- 
ment consistent with the necessary 
warmth. Mothers may without fear listen 
to the requests of the little fellows to 
give up the kilted skirts. It is, of course, 
from the commendable desire to be men that the small 
boys beg for trousers, but it is also because their skirts 
are bothersome. 

The pretty little sailor suits with the long trousers, 
which fit snugly above the knee and are given a nau- 
tical spread at the ankle, are the more sensible and 
the prettiest suits for small boys. The union suits of 




152 CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 

underwear, can be obtained in qualities to suit the 
various seasons and are the best underwear that can 
be provided. They are as pliable as Jersey cloth and 
give with every movement of the body. Long stockings 
held by straps which pass over the shoulders and broad 
spring-heeled shoes are the proper covering for the 
feet. 

Little boys' overcoats and hats or caps should cor- 
respond. The smaller boj^s are generally given a cape 
over the shoulders of their overcoat but boys from nine 
to twelve discard this and wear long sack coats but- 
toned up in single-breasted fashion. 

As regards dyes for either boys or girls light colors 
are more healthy than dark, since they contain less 
coloring matter, and fast dyes are safer than those 
which fade rapidly. Indigo-black is a very "fast" dye, 
and is therefore better than blacks obtained from log- 
wood. Logwood has a peculiar effect well known by 
dyers, in that it deprives the skin of the sense of feel- 
ing. Dyed materials are least injurious when there is 
least perspiration and they should be especiall}^ avoided 
for dresses to be worn during exercise. White, therefore, 
besides being the prettiest, is the most healthy color 
for summer and other dresses. 

This matter, with regard to color, applies particularly 
to underwear, but where it can be done economically all 
children's clothing should be white. The little sailor suit 
shown on the preceeding page is very pretty made in 
white serge or flannel, as is also the little girl's dress 
shown opposite. 



CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 



153 




DRESS FOR GIRLS 

In choosing materials for girls' cloth- 
ing care should be taken to secure 
warmth without adding weight. They 
should also be inexpensive and strong, 
so that the child may not have to be 
forbidden healthy play lest its clothes 
should be spoiled. No really loving 
mother will prefer the welfare of the 
clothes to the welfare of her child. 
Woolens of lighter or greater weight 
according to the season are the best materials for 
children's dress. Aprons made of white cambric and 
pretty ginghams afford all needed protection from dirt. 
Girls and misses up to twelve years always look 
well and sufficientl}^ fashionable in dresses made with 
round full skirts and round waists with long full or 
coat-sleeves. They are easily made and readily 
laundered. 

For such a dress the skirt is quite straight, com- 
posed of two or more widths of material firmly run 
together. The bottom of it is finished b}' a hem about 
four inches deep, and above it may be a number of 
tiicks, grouped according to taste. The opening at the 
back, six inches deep, is made in the midde of the 
width, hemmed and wrapped right over left in the 
ordinary way. The top of the skirt is gathered and 
sewed oh to the waistband of the body. The body 
consists of five pieces, viz., one front, two backs, and 



154 CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 

two sleeves. The seams on the shoulders and under 
the arms are neatly and thickly stitched, the raw edges 
are trimmed with the scissors, and overcast either singly 
or in the double. 

The backs are strenghened by a one-inch deep hem, 
and fastened with excellently worked button-holes and 
as many little buttons. The bottom of the front is 
gathered for a short distance on each side of the mid- 
dle to give a small amount of fulness over the chest. 
The neck and the waist are finished by a half-inch 
band, often put on with a piping, which greatly adds 
to the strength as well as to the neatness. These bands 
may form cases for tapes by which to draw the body 
up so as to fit each individual wearer. The armeyes are 
carefully curved and roomy. They measure large around 
to permit free movement of the arms. The sleeves 
are gathered both at the top and bottom, and if full, 
form a pretty puff,, and the fulness at the bottom is set 
into a narrow band. They are firmly stitched into the 
armeyes, the raw edges are pared and then thickly 
overcast. 

AN APRON 

A child for all ordinary occasions never looks neater 
or more attractive than when wearing a pretty little 
pinafore apron over her dress. It is simple yet 
pretty in shape and is easily arranged. It may be 
made of print, cambric, checked muslin, diaper, hol- 
land or any similar fabric about thirty inches wide. 
They are always made to button at the back. They 



CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 155 

are hemmed in a narrow hem all around and tied with 
strings fastened in at the sides, in a bow at the back 
which forms a modest sash. A little strong lace or other 
trimming sewed on all edges finishes it neatly. 

SUMMARY 

The choice of children's clothing should never be 
left to nurses or outfitters ; but the mother, be she 
never so rich and fashionable, should superintend it 
herself, so as to be sure that every garment worn by 
her little ones is both healthy and comfortable. We 
must never let children wear clothes they have out- 
grown. Boots must always be made to fit, by good 
makers, and of the expensive material called glove-kid, 
and each child ought to have two pairs, which should be 
worn on alternate days, in order to prevent that mold- 
ing of the foot to any peculiarity in the shape of the 
boot, which may happen if it is worn constantly. 

The little ones must have clothes suitable for every 
kind of weather, so that they may never be kept 
indoors because they have nothing fit to go out in. 
They must have changes of clothes in case they come 
in damp. And last but not least, however great the 
damage may be to clothes, nothing must induce us to 
interfere with the little one's romping play. 

From the foregoing it is clear that the first principles 
to be obeyed in the clothing of children are the preven- 
tion of undue loss of animal heat b}^ the use of apparel 
so contrived that it shall not hamper their movements ; 
and cleanliness. Both these principles may be obeyed 



156 CHILDREN'S CLOTHES 

equally by rich and poor : for clothes may be made 
even more easil}'^ on a rational plan than in the com- 
mon way, and soap and water are decidedly inexpen- 
sive ; but people must devote time and thought to the 
subject. 



CHAPTER XIII 
DRESS TRIMMINGS 

BIAS BANDS PLAIN BINDING AND FRENCH HEM ROUND 

PIPING — CORD-EDGE — DOUBLE CORD-EDGE STRAPS AND 

BANDS — FUR TRIiMMING — FLOUNCES PLEATING 

BIAS BANDS 

Bias bands and rouleaux are modified or perfected 
bindings and cordings. They are always cut on the 
cross, or bias, and form very neat and eleganttrimmings 
for woolen and silk materials, but they are not at all nice 

for washing materials, because they will often shrink, 

* 
and always be flattened out of all elegance in the iron- 
ing. 

Very great care must be taken to cut the material 
for bias exactly on the cross, folding together the 
selvage and raw edge of the material, then cutting 
along the corner piece thus formed, taking care to 
measure accurately all along the width of the first bias. 
This can afterward be pinned over the material as 

many times as there are strips wanted ; they will thus 

157 



158 DRESS TRIMMINGS 

be all exactly alike. The strips are next sewed together 
along the selvages and the seams ironed flat. 

The sewing on of bias is no easy task, especially to 
beginners, when the material is soft and limp. It is 
then necessary to pin or tack the bias very carefully 
to avoid its puckering or stretching. 

When the bias is meant as a border or binding, it 
must be laid upon the right side of the material wrong 
side uppermost, as low under the edge as it is neces- 
sary for the intended width of the bias. It must be 
run very straight and even, then the bias is turned 
down and hemmed in slip-stitch on the wrong side. 

In sewing the bias band on the dress, care must be 
taken not to stretch it, for being on the cross it will 
allow itself to be stitched entirely out of shape with 
the slightest pulling. It must be eased in sewing 
enough to make it lie easily but without puckering. 

Lay the band with its right side against the right 
side of the skirt or tunic, just above where it is to be 
when finished. Run the ^ower edge of the band tc the 
garment evenly and straight, and without pulling 
the band. When this is done, turn the the band over, 
tack it smoothly in place, and hem the second edge 
(now the lower of the two) under, on the wrong side 
of the garment. The second illustration, on the oppo- 
site page, shows the band run to the skirt and turned 
over in place. The lower edge must be turned under 
and hemmed at the back. 




Stitched Bias Band 




DRESS TRIMMINGS 159 

The stitched bias band is made 
of a bias band with its two edges 
turned in and tacked together 
one below the other. It is then 
sewed to the garment with the 

machine, the mathine stitching following the line of 

tacking. 

Anothervariety of stitched 
bias trimmingis illustrated, 
made in two materials. 
The upper half is doubled 

Bias Band IN Two Materials and tacked tO the garment. 

Over this the upper edge of the second band is tacked 
wrong side upwards. Afterward this band is turned 
over, its lower edge turned under and tacked in place 
as illustrated. 

As a rule, bias trimmings should be made of differ- 
ent material than that used for the garment trimmed. 
Velvet and silk make beautiful trimmings on woolens. 
Velvet should never be put on velveteen and woolens 
do not look well on woolens, unless they are of vivid 
contrasting color or elaborately figured or embroidered. 

PLAIN BINDING AND FRENCH HEM 

To make plain-binding, you must cut a strip of silk, 
on the bias, of twice the width you want for your bind- 
ing. Double it, and run it on the right side of your 
flounce or cuff, keeping the raw edge of your binding to 
the raw edge of your flounce. Then turn the binding 



i6o 



DRESS TRIMMINGS 



over, and fell it down on the wrong side, taking care to 
let no stitches be seen below the run on the right side. 




PLAIN BINDING (nO. I) 

The reason why this binding is made double is, that 
it so stands off with a handsome roundness. This 
binding is most used for bows and flounces, and other 
light trimmings, while the French hem suits better 



«i|flfP^«ifif« 





PLAIN LIXDING FINISHED (nO. 2) 

for finishing a dress at the bottom, or for edging a 
cape, or the front of a plain cloak. French hem is 
made like plain-binding, except that it has a cord at 
the upper edge. This cord is run in, on the right 
side of the article to be trimmed, and the strip is 
then turned over, and felled down at the back. 



£>/^£SS TRIAIMINGS 



ROUND PIPING 



Round piping looks simple enough : but it is far 
from easy to make properly. It is illustrated in Chap- 
ter IX. It is made of a strip of bias about an inch 
wide, doubled and folded, and folded again till it is 
round, when the edge must be hemmed down. The 
difficult}' is to prevent its twisting, so that the hem winds 
round and round the pipe. This can be prevented only 
by carefully cutting the silk on the right bias, and of 
an even width, and by folding it with great regularity. 
This kind of trimming is sometimes convenient for 
covering hems and joins, for finishing sleeves at the 
wrist, etc. Sometimes it is used for embroidering the 
bottom of the skirt, or the front of the body of a gown 
or cloak. 

CORD-EDGE 

The strip of silk or satin of which cord-edge is made is 
cut on the cross, or bias, as it is called : that is, neither 
straight along by the selvage, nor off the breadths, 
but between the two. Cut in this manner, the strip 
stretches easily, and can be turned this way and that, 
without puckering, as a straight piece never does. 
This strip is generally about an inch wide. It should be 
quite evenly cut ; and several lengths should be joined, 
before you begin to make the cord-edge. The black or 
white cord, of the length required, is laid along the 
middle of the strip <si silk ; the upper half of the silk is 
folded down over the cord, and the two thicknesses of 



1 62 DRESS TRIMMINGS 

silk are tacked together, so as to enclose the cord 
between them. What you have chiefly to look to is 
that your joins are neatly made, so that they will 
neither give way, nor show an}^ of the white of the 
selvage ; and that the two edges of the silk are kept so 
even as that the cord shall never be left bare, either on 
the upper or under side. You will also avoid leaving 
long thread-ends, which will annoy those who are to use 
the cord-edge. 

Cording is illustrated on page 113. When the cord- 
edge is to be made of merino, or of any twilled 
material, care must be taken to cut the strips on 
such a bias or cross, as that the twill may lie across 
the cord instead of running along it. The first 
looks neat, the latter particularly ugly. It is a temp- 
tation, when small bits of silk are lying about, to take 
any that are on any cross, for making cord-edge. But 
the same piece of cord-edge should be made of strips 
cut all on the same cross. Two bits, one cut from left 
to right, and the other from right to left, may have 
quite a different shade when joined, so as to look as if 
they did not come off the same piece. 

DOUBLE CORD-EDGE 

A learner does this by tacking together two single 
cord-edges, leaving one a little below the other, A 
more experienced hand makes double cord-edge with 
less waste of time and of silk. She cuts the strips 
rather wider than for a single edge, runs a cord into 
each edge, and then, in using the edge, sets the two 



DRESS TRIMMINGS i6j 

cords on together. Double cording is illustrated on 
page 113. 

STRAPS AND BANDS 

Straps and bands have commonly to be stiflened. A 
piece of buckram is therefore cut of the same size as 
the silk ; a cord-edge is set on at both edges, and turned 
down on the wrong side, which is then to be lined with 
a ribbon, or bit of silk. Some corded straps, intended 
to confine the fulness of the sleeve or body of a dress, 
are made without stiffening ; and from this, from being 
very narrow, and from being always on the cross, are 
more difficult to make than waistbands, which are 
always stiffened, always cut the selvage way of the 
sil'k, and sometimes made without cord-edges. Broad 
or narrow, you must be careful to keep your strap or 
band of exactly the same width throughout. 

FUR TRIMMING 

The fur which is used to trim the different parts of 
a dress, cloak, or shawl, comes into the dressmaker's 
hands so prepared, that she has little to do but to fix it 
on. It is sold by the furrier in the proper shapes and 
sizes for collars, flouncing, and bordering. 

A fur flounce is fixed only at its upper edge, b}' 
being felled down, the lower edge remaining free. 
If the fur be in the form of bordering, for edges, it is 
felled down at the inner edge, like a flouncing, and 
the lining of the garment is run against the other edge. 

A fur collar has generally to be lined with silk, 



164 DRESS TRIMMINGS 

before it is set on. It is slightly wadded, to preserve 
the silk from being rubbed and worn by the leather. 
The raw edge of the silk being turned in, the lining 
is then run with a double running, against the back 
of the fur. The collar is then stitched to the cloak, 
and the lining felled down, or the join is backed by a 
stout ribbon. 

FLOUNCES 

Flounces form such a pretty becoming trimming for 
skirts, they are alwa5's regaining lost ground when 
some newer fashion has turned them for a moment 
from the field. There is a great variet}' of flounces 
possible^ trimmed in various ways, or with pinked 
edges if the fabric admits. 

Gathered flounces on the cross can be hemmed or 
edged with a bias band of another material. A flounce 
of cashmere cut on the cross looks very pretty edged 
with a bias band of silk to match, or of a contrasting 
shade. The bias band could be of striped or fancy 
silk. This ornamental binding is put on exactly in 
the manner of the bias bands as explained above. 

Flounces on the straight, gathered or pleated, are 
very effective bound with braid, a method often pur- 
sued for serge dresses. Gold braid on white cashmere 
and silver braid on pale blue or pink, has also the 
happiest effect for evening dresses. 

PLEATINGS 

Pleatings of all kinds must be cut on the straight of 



DEESS TRIMMINGS 165 

the fabric. No pleats made of bias material will 
remain in their folds. 

Cut the strips for the pleating as wide as desired 
across the goods, and three times as long as the fin- 
ished pleating will be. In other words if the pleat- 
ing is to be one yard long when completed, the strip 
for pleating must be cut throe yards long. Join together 
in narrow seams, the breadths of goods required to 
give this length. 

The lower edge of the pleating may be finished by 
a hem, either machine stitched or blind stitched 
according to the material. Silk pleatings should never 
be machine stitched, while some woolen fabrics look 
much better finished in that manner. The upper edge 
may be hemmed or it may be overcast to keep its 
threads from fra3'ing and then turned under the width 
of a neat heading. 

There are many patented contrivances by which 
pleatings are made in a very exact and rapid manner, 
but when they are made by hand, the way is simply and 
easily learned. When the seams joining the breadths 
are stitched they should be pressed open flat. Then 
the hem must be laid and stitched and the upper edge 
turned over and basted. These should then be pressed 
flat with a mediumly warm iron. Then lay the lower 
edge in regular pleats the desired size and baste them 
in place with finer thread. Then "treat the upper edge 
in the same manner making its pleats correspond with 
those of the lower edge. For pleatings narrower than 



1 66 DRESS TRIMMINGS 

eighteen inches these two bastings will be all that is 
necessary. 

When this is completed the final and all important 
pressing follows. A damp piece of muslin is first laid 
on the pleating and the hot iron passed over it, then a 
dry pieces of thin muslin is laid on instead and the 
iron used until the pleating is pressed perfectly dry. 

The bastings of the pleating should not be drawn 
out until the trimming is secured in place on the gar- 
ment. It is the best policy to leave the basting in the 
lower edge until the garment is about to be worn. 

There are many varieties of pleatings. The fine 
knife-pleating, the ordinary side-pleating and the dif- 
ferent sized box-pleats are all familiar trimmings and 
they are all treated in the same manner. They are 
often caught together in fanciful ways and make novel 
garnishments, but as these vary with prevailing fash- 
ions, we can not give space to them in a work of this 
kind. 

• 



CHAPTER XIV 
SPECIAL COSTUMES 

RIDING HABITS CYCLING COSTUMES BATHING SUITS — 

DRESS FOR BUSINESS WOMEN — ARTISTIC AND REFORM 

DRESS TO DRESS FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER 

RIDING HABITS 

Many improvements have taken place in ladies' 
dress for horse exercise. The long habits formerly 
worn were alike objectionable and dangerous : for they 
become soiled and splashed when riding on wet roads or 
across country ; and by catching against chance objects 
frequently led to the rider's being thrown or injured. 
In case of accidents, also, they were very much in the 
way, entangling the rider's limbs, and embarassing 
the horse's movements if it fell. 

The skirt should be longer than just to cover the 
feet and the material chosen should be as light as pos- 
sible. From tweed or serge, much more comfortable 
habits can be made than from heavier cloths, and the 

waist is thus saved from the drag of a heavy skirt. 

167 



1 68 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

For the same reason the upper portion of the skirt and 
trousers should be well shaped to the figure. 

The best authorities declare that for riding, as for 
other exercise, the body should be clothed entirely in 
wool. The habit should invariably be lined with 
flannel, and this plan is successfully adopted by many 
tailors. The trousers as well as the jacket may be thus 
lined throughout, and when it is done, all the under- 
clothing that is required is a woolen combination suit. 

There are many styles of riding habits but in all, the 
short, scant skirt is used, as is also the extremely 
plain bodice, and the trousers are long enough to strap 
under the boot or else short knee-breeches are used 
with top-boots. 

The bodice of a habit that will be always in fashion 
ma)^ have high standing collar buttoning close to the 
throat, or else it may have the "step collar," notched 
and open at the throat (precisely like that of a man's 
morning coat), for wearing with a white chemisette 
and necktie. What are perhaps the most acceptable 
bodices, button ciosel}^ up to the throat, and are can- 
vassed throughout, the front edges curve outward, are 
double-stitched, and are further rounded out or fash- 
ioned by the tailor's iron. When made in tailor fashion 
the cloth of the bodice is fitted to the wearer, and is 
bound in all the lengthwise seams. The satin or flan- 
nel lining is then made up separately, and all its seams 
are concealed, as they are set inside. A good plan is 
to add a "corset belt" in front, sewed in the under-arm 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 169 

seams at the waist-line; this is pointed like a girdle 
at top and bottom in front, has several whalebones, 
and is laced closel}^ The close coat sleeves have two 
[)uttons and button-holes at the wrist. The high col- 
lar is stiffly interlined. Two buttons define the waist 
line in the back. 

The habit skirt is about eighty inches broad at its 
greatest width, and the top should fit without a wrinkle 
when the rider is in the saddle; it drops within two 
inches of the floor when she stands. It is shaped by 
curves and cross cuts to fit over the right knee, and 
to allow room for the pommel. Inside the under half 
of the front is a loop in which the right boot of the 
rider is thrust just to the toe ; on the back of the skirt 
is another loop, which is fastened under the heel of 
the left boot ; these loops keep the skirt smooth and 
liold it in place. The long trousers are seated with 
chamois, and are attached to a wide satin waistband 
shaped out over the hips, which laces in the back to 
give greater latitude. Short breeches have a similar 
waistband, and are made long enough to button just 
below the knees, each leg buttoning differently, that 
worn on the right leg buttoning inside, while that on 
the left leg fastens outside, so as not to come between 
the limbs and the saddle. By referring to Chapters IV. 
and V, the reader will find many suggestions which 
will be helpful in adjusting tailor-made habits. 

The tweed habits for the country are very light in 
weight, and made cooler for midsummer by having the 



I70 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

open-throated notched collar ; they also have a pleated 
postilion at the back. School-girls have tweed habits 
made with a Norfolk jacket of narrow pleats, instead of 
the stiff bodice worn by ladies. 

A plain linen collar and simple brooch accompany 
the riding toilette. The high silk hat is worn in the 
Park, but Derby hats of black felt are worn in the 
country. The hair is arranged in a very small twist or 
coiled knot or else it is in slender plaits placed round 
and round close against the head. The thick double- 
stitched gloves have gauntlets added, or else they are 
closed at the top and buttoned at the wrist, or they may 
be the loose glove, which is drawn on the hand easily, 
worn large and is without buttons. 

Hunting habits are made of heavier cloth and should 
be especially thick and strong enough to carry the rider 
through brambles and over fences without a tear. A 
gay collar and vest of "English pink" cloth — which is 
bright scarlet — are sometimes added to hunting-habits. 

CYCLING COSTUMES 

Cycling is having a salutary effect on the general 
dress of women, for to ride comfortably the dress must 
be light and easy in every part. Heavy skirts hang- 
ing from the waist would inevitably produce back- 
ache, and tight stays would be too painful to be borne. 

Neat, dark cloth costumes, ulsters or jackets, with 
small felt or cloth hats to match, are suitable for cycle 
wear, or dresses of those brownish materials which do 
not show the dust of the road. Until cycle riding has 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 171 

become more common for ladies in great towns, tliey 
will hardl}' care to go about in such bright costumes 
as one uses for carriage wear, as by so doing they 
would obtain more notice from passers-by than would 
be altogether agreeable. There have been many inven- 
tions presented of costumes peculiarly adapted for cyc- 
ling. They refer almost always to modifications in 
skirt, the object being to have a skirt which will look 
all right when standing or walking but which will also 
allow extra fulness over the knees when seated and 
running a wheel. The first of these dresses show at 
the right side of the skirt some bows of ribbon, and 
these, when the wearer is walking, hide the secret of 
the dress. When she mounts her iron steed, all she 
has to do is to unfasten some buttons which are cun- 
ningly concealed beneath the bows, and at once she 
has a skirt perfectly adapted for C3'cle riding. It is 
constructed on the same principle as the riding-habit 
now worn, with room for the raised knee, so that the 
skirt does not draw up with the movements necessary 
to propel the wheel. The part which is buttoned 
over is cut with a deep curve, so that when buttoned, 
the bows, which are seen on the right side are in the 
center of the skirt. The part that was folded over 
gives extra width to it, and the curve which is now in 
the middle accommodates the knee as it rises. Like 
the riding habits mentioned, these dresses are lined 
with flannel, and the ideal way of wearing them is 
with woolen combination suits next the skin, a stayed 



172 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

body, fitting closely to the figure to take the place of 
stays, and buttoned on to this a pair of knickerbockers 
or trousers of cloth to match the dress. Of course, 
these unmentionables do not show ; but a lady clothed 
in this way is better able to face the risks of accident 
than one in petticoats, which are liable to hamper her 
movements. Moreover, this method of clothing gives 
a sense of lightness and freedom which can never be 
enjoyed by one dressed in the ordinary way. 

Another wheel dress is more like a cloak or wrap. The 
upper part of it is made like a Norfolk jacket to which a 
plain skirt is attached ; a deep kilting is inserted the 
whole length of the skirt in front. When the wearer is 
seated the pleats are free and allow extra room for the 
knees. There is something very chic about this dress, 
and it is suitable for rather cold or wet weather, when 
it may be used as a winter mantle, or to take the place 
of that valuable but ugly contrivance — the waterproof. 
Although so different in appearance, these dresses are 
all made with the same design, that of providing com- 
fortable and healthy costumes for lady riders. 

Tight-lacing must be banished from the mind and 
body of the woman who would ride the iron steed ; but 
since dresses for cycling should be becoming as well 
as healthy and comfortable, although room must be 
allowed to give perfect freedom to every movement, a 
really accurate fit, such as can only be given b)^ great 
care is required. 

These dresses, while suitable for cycling when made 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 173 

in becoming colors answer as well for riding, walking 
tours and travelling. 

Boots or shoes for C3'cling should be made to fit the 
shape of the foot, so as to be perfectly comfortable, 
not according to the present absurd fashion, which, 
instead of allowing that movement in the toes which 
should take place in walking, cramps them together into 
a mangled and deformed mass. The chief points to 
be observed in getting boots or shoes are that the toes 
should be broad, to allow fidl pla}^ to the toes of the 
foot ; the heel, if any are worn, should be low and 
broad, and under the natural heel, instead of being a 
sort of peg pushed forward right in to the middle of 
the foot, like the fashionable heels. The waist of the 
boot, answering to the arch of the foot, should be to a 
certain extent, elastic ; and the boot, though it should 
not press in the slightest degree upon any part of the 
foot, should not be too large, or it will chafe both 
stocking and skin. 

BATHING SUITS 

Nav}' blue flannels or serges that do not hold much 
waterare thefavorite materials for bathing suits. White 
flannels and serges are also used, and there are com- 
bination suits that have a skirt, vest, and revers-col- 
lar of striped flannel, especially pretty in pale blue 
and white stripes, or else dark blue and red, but dark 
sea-blue flannel makes the quiet suit in which the bather 
is least disagreeably conspicuous. Rows of mohair braid, 
a fourth of an inch wide, are put on for trimming in 



174 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

white, pale blue, or red. Four or six rows are placed 
around the collar, cap, belt, skirt, and drawers. Still 
another pretty trimming for a blue suit is a border of 
white flannel two inches wide, with a fence row pat- 
tern stitched above this, and still higher up are blocks 
of the flannel two inches square. Sometimes the 
edges of the skirt and drawers are cut out in squares, 
piped around, and made to fall over a pleating of 
contrasting color, such as red or white imder blue. 
The Breton vest and revers are much used with rows 
of white or red braid in clusters across the vest, while 
the revers are braided in lengthwise rows. Sometimes 
the entire vest is of white or of red wool in a blue suit, 
and the belt is of a color to match. 

The favorite bathing suit consists of a long garment 
with the waist and drawers in one, joined together by 
a belt on which the skirt is buttoned. The neck is cut 
high, with a sailor collar, but the preference is for short 
sleeves that leave the arms free for swimming. There 
is, however, the choice of several kinds of sleeves 
given with most suits, viz., the mere cap in the arm- 
hole, the short sleeve, the half-long, which reaches to 
the elbow, and the long coat sleeve extending low on 
the hand to protect it from the sun. The cap sleeves 
are narrow at the top and lapped there, but are wider 
underneath, and turned downward, so that no matter 
how the arm is lifted the armpits are well covered. 

The waist with a yoke and box-pleats extending to 
a belt is one of the best designs, with ample fulness 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 175 

for concealing the figure. The 3'oke is cut \ftxy deep 
and square across to the arm and may be confined 
to the front of the garment, while the back has 
three wide box-pleats from the neck to the belt, and 
is covered at the top by the large square-cornered 
sailor collar. The drawers are sewed to the lower 
edge of the belt of the waist ; they are buttoned down 
the front, and are made large and quite straight at the 
knee, and plainly hemmed, instead of being gathered 
to a band as they formerly were. The skirt is about 
two yards wide, and falls just below the cap of the knee, 
and the drawers extend two or three inches below the 
skirt. There should be an inside belt lining to the 
skirt (like that in children's kilt skirts) supplied with 
button-holes for the buttons on the belt of the waist. 
The outside of the belt does not show the buttons, and 
may be made of a contrasting color of flannel, or else 
trimmed with rows of braid ; and this is so prett}^, and 
so effectually holds the skirt, that it is not necessar}^ 
to wear the canvas belt sometimes considered indis- 
pensable. 

Beside the suit described, bathers who are well- 
dressed, wear long stockings, either black or matching 
in color the suit. Striped or fancy hose are never in 
the best taste. Ordinary bathers wear no shoes, but 
for those whose feet are tender or who desire to be 
shod, regular bathing shoes made of duck and similar 
materials are always to be purchased in cities near the 
sea. The oilskin cap, which is easil}^ procured, is the 



176 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

proper head covering for ladies who do not wish their 
hair to get wet. Beside this, one requires some sort 
of hat or cap that will shade the eyes and face. A 
pretty straw flat tied under the chin but with no trim- 
ming does this effectually and is not injured by the 
water. Ladies sometimes show very prettj^ muslin 
bonnets shirred on reeds for the front and with short 
capes and full crowns that are very pretty. These 
require to be rinsed out and ironed after each wearing 
to be really presentable. A large full circular cloak 
of cloth or flannel should also be provided to complete 
a bathing outfit. This necessarily need not be exactly 
like the bathing suit itself in color, although if they 
correspond, it is in better taste. This is worn on the 
beach when the bather is not really in the water and 
aside from all questions of modesty is a desirable pro- 
tection from undue exposure and chill. 

Little girls wear bathing suits ver}'^ similar to those 
of the ladies in material and make. Some machine 
embroidery, or else rows of bright braid, trim them. 
For boys and very small girls, are one-piece suits with 
waist and trousers together, made of stockinet in nar 
row stripes, or else of flannel. 

DRESS FOR BUSINESS WOMEN 

So large a number of women are engaged in daily 
commercial pursuits, that the question of their dress 
has become an important one. The practical tendency 
is to-daj^ strong in all women and it is forcibl}- illus- 
trated by the popularity of the tailor-made gown. The 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 177 

needs of women engaged in professional and commer- 
cial pursuits have undoubtedly been prominent factors 
in the successful introduction of this style of hand- 
some, practical garments. 

The tailor-made dress has really been a boon to 
business women. Its neatness and its durability have 
been the greatest possible good to them. A woman 
who goes to a place of business every day needs to be 
well dressed, yet she can not bother with furbelows. 
She needs the assistance of looking well, yet her dress 
must not monopolize too much of her precious time 
and strength. Consequently, it is best for her to adopt 
certain set features which will individualise her dress, 
and it then becomes a very much less perplexing mat- 
ter. There are a few general rules which must alwaj'S 
be adhered to : in the first place, a business woman's 
dress must not be easily soiled ; it must be well made ; 
it must fit ; it must not be obtrusive in cut or color, 
and it should be of ver)^ good quality. There are some 
features of so called dress reforms that may with 
advantage be adopted, but we can not advise women 
who are busy earning their bread to make themselves 
conspicuous. The first law for sucli a woman is to 
be conventional, and assist in reform movements simply 
as side issues. 

First of all she should decide upon one color for the 
prevailing tint of her whole costume. IMany do already 
go to the extreme and always ^\ear black. This is not 



178 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

an objectionable thing to do in itself, although one can 
be as truly economical and tasteful in browns, grays, 
greens or blues, and at the same time not so somber. 
The idea is, always wear different modifications and 
harmonies of one color, and select only such accessories 
as will combine and blend with it. Let us take brown 
as an illustration. Let it be so arranged that the long 
wrap — for a business woman can not do better than 
wear a long wrap, summer and winter — the dress and 
the hat are brown. Then never let her be tempted 
into buying a color in gloves that will not look well 
with brown. When it comes to underwear, brown hose, 
brown flannel, cloth or silk petticoats and brown gai- 
ters. Never let her forget, when making a purchase 
or giving an order, that she is in brown, and she will 
find herself equipped for any emergency. Then when 
she comes to hurriedly dress she can proceed almost 
haphazard, and will not in the end find she has arrayed 
herself in all colors of the rainbow, because she has 
not had time to make selections from a heterogeneous 
lot of clothing. 

There is another idea some ladies have adopted 
with comfort and pleasure, and that is always to wear 
the same st3de of dress, with little or no variation This 
we can not recommend. It is too likely to grow tire- 
some to both the wearer and her associates, although 
one little woman looks well in a round skirt and waist 
tied with a ribbon sash, and another, who-happily has a 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 179 

beautiful figure, has worn a princess style of gown ever 
since the princess dress first came in. 

There is one idea we should like to see exploded, 
and that is that women who are out almost all day 
should wear "good, heavy shoes." They should do 
quite the reverse. Trim fitted, neat, light weight fine 
boots are what every woman who works should wear. 
To be in an office all day in a pair of thick soled shoes, 
too stiff to allow the natural bending of the foot, is 
too harrowing ; and when it comes to walking six or 
eight hours in them, it is quite enough to exhaust the 
strength of an Amazon. To keep up her spirits a 
woman should be light and sprightly in her step, and 
she can not be that in cork-soled boots. Let her get 
a well made boot of fine kid with lighter soles, and 
wear rubber "footholds" in damp weather, and she 
will see how light hearted her light steps will make her. 

A bonnet is scarcely adapted to a business woman's 
wear ; a hat is far preferable. It protects the eyes and 
complexion, and can be made handsome, though plain. 
For wear in cold weather a bonnet can not be too cor- 
dially condemned, for it is so slight a protection that 
it is little more than the cause for the twin afflictions 
of neuralgia and catarrh. 

ARTISTIC AND REFORM DRESS 

The earnest efforts of would-be dress reformers are 
now directed after a method that begins to tickle the 
fancy of women. Prett}^ women never took to Bloom- 
ers or Dr. Mary Walkers, but when reform comes in 



i8o SPECIAL COSTUMES 

the shape of becoming, naj', even enhaacing garb, they 
stop to consider it. No woman pines to have the 
backache or to only breath within tightened limits, 
but any of them will endure it rather than to be a fright. 

There are some very dreadful things said about 
women to-day, and perhaps most dreadful ones about 
their petticoats and corsets. We often feel like chlo- 
roforming some of the cranks who prate in regard to 
how women dress. 

Take away her corsets and she has to substitute 
some awkward stiff waist, which is simply murderous. 
Take away her petticoats and what has she left to wear 
but trousers? She is likely to get a right to the ballot- 
box before she is given the right to appear in them. 

However, all this agitation will probably end in the 
adoption of some modern dress reform, and the giving 
up of Parisian modistes' concoctions. 

It is in the new tea-gowns or house dresses that we see 
the influence or fore-shadowings of these newer reform 
robes. Even there we do not find decided indices, 
only premonitory symptoms, most evident only in con- 
trast. The gown controlled by the old established 
rules is long-waisted and tight, and witli beautiful long 
lines decorated in braid and cord. The reform points 
appear in loose, languid folds over the chest and limbs, 
hiding, while suggesting, the unconfined waist-line. 
The limbs are treated after the same methods, no tapes 
or tie-backs being allowed. Soft, clinging materials like 
cotton, wool or silk crape in delicious mauve, terra- 



SPECIAL COSTUMES i8i 

cotta or marine hues delight in a reposeful manner the 
observer's e5'e. 

"We cannot dress artistically," on every hand, plump 
women are heard deploring. There never was a more 
mistaken conclusion. While studying the beautiful in 
dress one soon learns that lean estheticism is not all 
the art. You have but to glance at the women and 
their costumes that Rubens and Titian loved to paint 
to be convinced there may be refined grace in ample 
proportions. A woman above the average weight and 
below the medium height need never aspire to appear 
a sylph, but her attire may strike the educated eye 
pleasantly, if she adopts tunics showing longitudinal 
effects, uses dim esthetic colors, and preserves pleasing 
outlines. But there is one assured fact, she will never 
please artistically if she squeezes the flesh about her 
waist into heaving billows around her hips and should- 
ers and pushes her arms into sleeves that remind you 
of stuffed sausages. 

London struck the new note in the esthetic move- 
ment of some years ago. It was pilloried by ridicule 
at the time, and in some sense it deserved it. So 
grotesque and exaggerated were many of its phases, 
that whatever in women's clothing was loose, untid}', 
ill-fitting, and of no particular color, was claimed as 
"esthetic" and laughed at as the result of diseased or 
erratic imagination. The power of the small school 
of worshippers was at its height several j-ears ago, but 
was then confined to a very small school. After awhile 



1 82 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

it ceased to attract attention, and the Philistines, who 
are nothing if not orthodox and conventional, believe 
that it has been sneered and ridiculed out of existence. 

But an idea can not die ; it is bound to live and 
flourish if it has a spark of vitality in it, and the 
esthetic idea flourished to such an extent that it has 
created a revolution, and now dominates every other 
fashion in women's clothes, except one, and with that, 
the "tailor-made" idea, it divides the honors. Both 
these predominant lines, or veins, were struck by 
English enterprise and originality. Nothing essen- 
tially new has come from the French since Worth 
invented draperied dresses, and he, it must be remem- 
bered, is an Englishman. 

The difficulty has been the lack of ideas. Fashion 
must have ideas to work upon to produce novelty, 
and others not being forthcoming, was obliged to adopt 
the tailor-made idea and the esthetic idea, and b3'experi- 
menting upon them, adapting them and applying them, 
produced wonderful results. 

By the new system of esthetic reform, four garments 
are to be worn, instead of fourteen under the old system. 
The four articles of apparel are the tights, the vests, the 
combination garment and the dress. It means fewer gar- 
ments. It means garments that do not destroy the out- 
line of the body, but are made in accordance with 
them. It means garments that will allow free use of 
the muscles of the body. It means a minimum weight 
of clothing necessary for warmth. It means dresses 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 183 

suited to varying conditions and occasions, as climb- 
ing, traveling, walking, promenading, fishing, etc. The 
beauty and advantage claimed for the new system are 
that tlie four garments can be purchased in dry goods 
stores, and can be easily washed. There is no band 
about the bodv, and constriction from corsets or col- 
lars is out of the question. The weight is distributed 
evenly, and there is perfect freedom of movement in 
every part of the body. 

The tights to be worn with the reform dress cost 
about ten dollars each, and should last two years. 
They are not like silk hose, which ravel when a thread 
breaks. In winter a lisle thread sock is to be worn 
inside. The second garment is a little black silk or 
lisle thread vest. The combination garment resem- 
bles the ordinary drawers and vest sewed together. 
The dress is not so great a departure from the con- 
ventional ordinary dress. The problem is not so much 
in the evening dress, as in the home dresses and street 
dresses that will not be too great a departure from the 
conventional. Roughly described, the dress is made 
up something like the Mother Hubbard. The weight 
is on the shoulders and not on the hips. In winter 
equestrian tights of wool are to be worn like the old- 
fashioned leggings, only that they extend to the waist. 
With thin dresses in summer is to be worn a simple 
white or black slip, which consists of a waist and 
five breadths of silk. Some may wear ecru equestrian 
tights, to which black stockings may be attached. 



1 84 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

"Two things are helping this movement greatly — 
the study of art and the study of science," says an 
ardent advocate. "Women are beginning to understand 
and apply more broadly the principles underlying all 
art. The second cause is the greater demand that is 
being made to-day upon woman's strength and the 
public character, so to speak, of her work. She is 
coming into direct competition with men, and she finds 
that, in order to keep up with her stronger brother, 
she can not hamper herself unduly. Our first and 
strongest point is the appeal to the esthetic and the 
endeavor to educate women as to what ought to be. 
We next call their attention to the manufacture of 
undergarments, working for two points. First, that 
garments should be manufactured so that we could 
buy them as a man buys his garments and not be 
troubled by having them individually made at home. 
And then we endeavor to have garments that will 
more nearly follow the outlines of the human figure. 
Our third endeavor was in the line of better ph3^sical 
development. We have not ignored the hygienic, the 
health side. The fashions of the past have been fully 
discussed and special ugliness pointed out. That 
which was good in fashions of the past has been dwelt 
upon, and it has been shown how such could be con- 
sistently applied to the dress of to-day. The most 
important and perhaps the most difficult task to accom- 
plish has been the education of the dressmakers." 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 185 

TO DRESS FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER 

First decide upon the style of photograph you will 
have, bust, three-quarters or a full length. The larger 
the size the more elaborate the toilette must be. A 
full length picture requires a fresh, perfect gown. 
Wear and hard usage show very plainly in a photo- 
graph. The gown need not be of expensive or handsome 
material but it must be comparatively new and unworn 
to get a satisfactory photograph. 

So far as color is concerned it is rather unimportant. 
Black, dark green, crimson, brown and yellow take 
nearly the same shade and white and light shades of 
color reproduce in a similar manner. 

The photographer will probably request you not to 
dress the neck too high or too tight, or in an exact 
circle, with the fore part of it lying close under the 
chin, for, of all things, the high mode of dressing 
the neck is distressing to an artistic photographer. 
It is done because the lady has a short neck or a long 
one, or it is thin and the cords must be concealed. It 
is done, for it is the fashion. This is all a mistake. 
You are surprised when the photographer says it, for 
there is a touch of bitterness in his tone. He illus- 
trates his meaning by winding the lapels of his coat 
tightly around his neck. "You see, madam, the effect 
on a long face like my own. It overhangs and becomes 
almost deformed, while a round face becomes button- 
shaped, and none of the little tricks of hair-dressing 
or expression can remedy it. No; it's all a mistake. 



1 86 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

If your neck is short, as you say, do not lose what 
you have, lower the drapery, do a little judicious bor- 
rowing, and, presto ! the face that was round becomes 
oval. In any case the neck must not be hidden, for 
all the action and grace of position in a bust portrait 
centers there." A dress cut low in the neck always 
seems much higher in a photograph than to an observer. 
A masculine face is softened and refined by a soft 
neck dressing, a bit of lace being preferable to the 
stiff standing collar. 

It is always best to secure in advance a time for your 
sitting, when making the appointment consult the 
photographer as to your dress. Let him know what it 
is to be. You may be undecided which of several to 
use. It then may be a choice in color or in cut, etc. 
He will tell you at once which is best. He may 
request you to try more than one, and in the absence 
of such invitation, you will be expected to pay extra 
for the experiment. While you are talking with him 
about dress, he is studying your face, expression, and 
form generally. If he also be an artist and experi- 
enced, he may see at a glance that your customary 
way of dressing the hair is not becoming, for, strange 
as it may seem, comparatively few women have the 
,knack of arranging their hair in the mode demanded 
by their face. While he knows that the portrait must 
not be ruined by the hair being done up in an unfa- 
miliar way, he may yet give you a few invaluable sug- 
gestions. For instance, he may request you to be 



SPECIAL COSTUMES 187 

more careful in dressing the left side than the right, 
thus signifying that the left side of the face is the bet- 
ter. Few have both sides alike. There is often almost 
as much difference as between two persons. The nose 
is much or a little to one side ; one eye is smaller, 
because one lid droops more ; there is a depression 
over that spot where a tooth has been extracted. The 
uneven shaping of the lips alone may decide which 
side of the face should be prominent. You laugh 
rather to one side — and by-the-bye there is always 
something pretty about such a laugh — and you have 
developed a dimple, which, sad experience teaches 
the photographer, will be demanded of him. But, as 
it happens sometimes, he may fail to detect the slight- 
est difference between the right and left, but he still 
requests you to take special pains with a certain side 
of the hair, as he prefers to show that side of the face. 

This is because in every atelier the light is better at 
one end of the room than at the other, and he is accus- 
tomed to place his sitters there. Now, and not when 
you come to sit, is the time for you to tell him what 
you prefer. You wish a three-quarter face, or a front 
view, or a profile ; j^ou have studied the idiosyncrasies 
of your face for years, and have so decided. He lis- 
tens respectfully, but his eye has searched out all the 
little secrets of anatomy, and fathomed your hidden 
reasons for thus and so. 

In keeping your appointment be punctual. A few 
minutes too soon is better than one minute too late. 



1 88 SPECIAL COSTUMES 

The toilette-room is yours, strictly, until you return from 
your sittings, and you are justified in locking the door 
and retaining the key. Take your own powder with 
you, but do not use it, unless you have studied "mak- 
ing-up" for the stage. A good theatrical "make-up" 
will photograph well ; rouge and a trifle of darkening 
around the eyes, especially the eyebrows, aid in bring- 
ing out the features, and do not show. Under ordinary 
circumstances, however, the photographer will use 
your powder much better than you can. If he uses 
it at all, it will be upon the hair alone, which generally 
takes several shades darker than it is, particularly with 
yellowish or auburn casts. 

Remember that a bright sunlight is the worst light 
you can have for a photograph. Choose, if possible, 
a day with an overcast sky ; a snowy day is excellent. 
The early part of the day is to be preferred, say between 
the hours of lo and 12 a. m., as then the light is more 
actinic, and the photographer has not been wearied. 



CHAPTER XV 

DRESS FOR HOME AND FOREIGN TRAVEL 

DRESS FOR HOME TRAVEL — DRESS FOR SOUTHERN TRAVEL — 
DRESS FOR THE FAR EAST — DRESS FOR OCEAN TRAVEL 

DRESS FOR HOME TRAVEL 

A traveling costume for wear in the north, east or 
west of the United States, has long since ceased to 
differ from one's shopping gown. The fashionable 
woolen dresses seen on our streets are admirably 
adapted to ordinary traveling. 

The most important matter in regard to a traveling- 
gown and which is often overlooked — is a comfortable fit. 
The bodice should be especially easy fitting. The arms- 
eye and the sleeve should be sufficiently large and roomy 
not to bind the arms. The linings of both bodice and 
skirt should be of the lightest weight, and consequently 
silk linings are especially desirable for traveling 
dresses. 

The color of such a costume should be governed by 
what is becoming to the wearer's complexion, although 



I go DRESS FOR HOME 

dark shades of gray and blue have been found to stand 
the dust and moisture better than other colors. 

Brown we are told, is a most serviceable color but 
experience declares it grows faded on the tops of pleats 
and spots with a good deal of alacrity even in the 
finest and most expensive fabrics. 

Black, except in silk does not make a good travel- 
ing dress ; it grows dusty and rusty and is a most try- 
ing costume to a tired woman, unless her skin is of 
the freshest. 

Women with chestnut hair and fair complexions can 
always wear the pretty shades of blue. This color is 
very serviceable. In darker shades shot with lighter 
color or striped with hair lines in clusters, it is an excel- 
lent choice. 

Sand grey is another color which wears admirably 
and is usually becoming. With bag, strap and belt 
of russet leather it is an elegance. 

DRESS FOR SOUTHERN TRAVEL 

Unless one goes out prepared for certain peculiarities 
of the Southern climate and customs, she is sure to 
come to grief. There prevails in the North a poetical 
notion of the South as the land of sunshine and flowers. 
This is true in summer, and in winter the South has 
very warm days but it has intervals of cold. These 
cold days are so damp and so pervasive in their 
dampness, they are harder to bear than the cold days 
of the North that are so brisk and sharp. 

There is no Southern climate which is continuously 



A ND FOREIGN TRAVEL 191 

and evenly warm during December and January. Taken 
as a whole, the South during those two months and 
the first half of February is rainy, chilly, foggy— any- 
thing and everything but "sunny." Georgia, the Car- 
olinas, and the rest of the middle Southern States have 
nights almost every winter when the mercury drops 
below thirty-two degrees. The spring months from 
March to the middle of May are ideally pleasant ; but 
the Northerner going South should be prepared for 
cold, carrying plenty of warm clothing. It is well also 
to have a few rugs in a party, for Southern hotel-keep- 
ers are very frugal with their blankets and but few 
Southern houses are provided with chimneys, so that 
one could have a fire in her room. Consequently, the 
traveler South wants to be supplied with extra flannels 
and with light weight woolen dresses and fur wraps. 
Cashmeres and light weight cloth, in light colors and 
white make the most tasteful and comfortable dresses, 
and soft India and other silks are among other fabrics, 
tourists in that part of the country have found most 
useful and popular. 

One has always to consider that stout, loose shoes 
are most needed in Southern travel. The land of the 
orange is the land of sand. Where it is not sandy it 
is muddy. 

DRESS FOR THE FAR EAST 

We are indebted to one who has been long resident 
in China and Japan for an extended account of dress 
required for the far Eastern countries. "Few," she 



192 DRESS FOR HOME 

says, "unless they have spent some time in China and 
Japan, realize the difficulties attendant on the selection 
in America and Europe of a suitable wardrobe for the 
peculiar cliniates of those countries. The difficulty 
is much enhanced by the variety of climate each of the 
foreign settlements offer, but a few general hints may 
prove useful. Generally new-comers among the ladies 
are brides, who bring from home such a trousseau as 
they would require at home, only to learn by sad 
experience that many of their prettiest things are use- 
less. 

In Shang-Ha'i the winters are cold, also in Yoko- 
ama and Kobe, where one woidd find furs agreeable. 
Indeed, the winters may be fairly compared with those 
of Baltimore and Washington in temperature. In 
Canton, Hong-Kong, and the south of China heavy 
autumn clothing only will be necessary — hardly that — 
more feeling of cold coming from the great dampness 
of the country than from the temperature. In Japan 
furs are always agreeable in the winter, although snow 
and ice are exceptions. 

The spring and autumn need not be considered, as, 
like the dawn and twilight, Nature has omitted them 
from her time-table. 

For summer a number of washable lawns, muslins, 
nainsooks, or batistes and ginghams, simply made and 
without linings, are the best. Any dress that can not 
be done up by the home laundress must be omitted, 
unless the lady is willing to do it herself; and for the 



AND FOREIGN TRA VEL 193 

same reason fine laces should be avoided, embroidery 
being the most serviceable trimming. 

Again one needs a much larger suppl}'' than at home, 
as the intense heat renders frequent changes of dress 
necessary. These washable white dresses are usually 
worn in the smaller settlements at all dinners and 
evening entertainments in the hottest weather ; in the 
larger settlements all entertaining is abandoned because 
of the difficulty of dressing elegantly and comfortabl}'. 
One needs several light white, pink, or pale blue nun's 
veilings or cashmeres for cool weather tennis and call- 
ing, or afternoon teas ; some ladies wear nothing else. 
For evening or ball dresses one or two lace, gauze, 
or grenadine, and one heavy silk or velvet for winter, 
are all that are needed. Dinner dresses should form 
the pieces de resistance of the wardrobe, as dinner-giving 
is by far the most general way of entertaining ; other 
entertainments, with the exception' of tennis parties, 
are few and far between. 

Most ladies find it advisable, especially the elder 
ones, to make the dinner and ball dresses mutually 
convertible. In the large ports, such as Hong-Kong, 
Shang-HaT, and Yokohama, there is a large and gay 
society, and there one needs as elaborate a wardrobe 
as her means will allow, but in the smaller ports an 
extensive wardrobe is mere folly ; and most ladies 
confine themselves to two or three simple evening or 
dinner dresses, and wear them continually until worn 
out ; for in a small place one meets the same people 



194 DRESS FOR HOME 

morning, noon, and night, and so, as in a family, little 
regard is paid to the number and variety of dresses. 

As there are few or no concerts, theatres, etc., and 
when they occur the}' are attended in full dinner dress 
without bonnet, the number of street dresses should be 
limited, one or two for the season being an ample 
supply. 

It should be remembered in making selections that 
such conveniences as the professional cleaner and dyer 
or the fine French laundress are not to be had, and 
that the freights to and from America and Europe are 
too high to admit of sending anything but gloves home 
to be done over. 

In hats for winter wear one's choice is unhampered, 
and only governed by the suitability to the wearer, 
but the choice for summer is not so free, owing to the 
great heat and glare, so that all who can should wear 
as much as possible large brimmed or sailor hats. 
Curled plumes should be avoided, as the hot is always 
the damp season, and the plumes soon lose their crinkle. 

A large supply of pretty fancy ribbons for dress 
loopings, and sashes for wash dresses, hats, etc., is very 
useful and necessary. 

Gloves are one of the bugbears of the far East, the 
climates as a rule being so damp that if the kid does 
not stiffen and crack, it is apt to mould. Great care, 
however, will avoid both misfortunes. The writer 
having kept gloves successfully for two years in the 
following way, can confidently recommend these pre- 



A ND J' ORE J GN TRA / '£1 1 95 

cautions : Wrap the gloves in tissue-paper, with a layer 
of paper separating each glove from its mate or neigh- 
bor, after sunning them well. Then put them in a tin 
case the cover of which fits over the box about three 
inches, and so closes it air-tight, having previously 
baked the box and lid in a hot oven to destroy all 
insects or fungus germs the}' may have contained, and 
allowed them to cool open. Close the gloves in this 
way, and repeat the operation once in six months, 
and gloves will keep. 

One needs a selection of street and evening Suede 
kid gloves, some dog-skin walking gloves, for mountain 
or country wear — chamois-skin gloves are equally good 
— and a good supply of silk gloves for summer wear 
in street and evening. After wearing, it is better to 
keep gloves in a light basket, unrolled, as they are apt 
to mould in a close box or drawer. 

Shoes are among the weightiest problems of life in 
the East, and the number of Chinese who can make a 
'welly good shoe' is astonishing in the light of the 
universal complaint. A good supply of strong walking 
boots, house and dancing shoes, and slippers, can not 
be too strongly urged, as well as the precaution of 
leaving one's measure with a competent shoemaker at 
home. The measure left at home should be made for 
loose shoes, as all, without exception, find that the 
feet swell so during the nine warm months of the year as 
to make a formerly good-fitting shoe extremely uncom- 
fortable. Strange to say, the swelling is more notice- 



196 DRESS FOR HOME 

able the second summer than in the first. All unworn 
shoes must be kept in the tin-lined chest hereafter 
described. 

Anything pretty in stockings and handkerchiefs 
forms an untold addition to one's comfort, as only the 
simplest of those articles can be bought in these coun- 
tries at anything but extravagant prices, if they can 
be had at all. 

Fans, parasols, and umbrellas should be chosen as 
unlike as possible to the Japanese styles, as the old 
adage regarding the "honor of a prophet in his own 
country" was never more forcibly illustrated than in 
this matter. 

One should strictl}^ avoid all pseudo-Chinese or Jap- 
anese styles in selecting the wardrobes, for the important 
reason that living in a country with as marked schools 
of decorative art as the Chinese and Japanese, one is 
inevitably and unconsciously strongly influenced b}' the 
all-pervading stvle, and so anything which differs from 
it forms a pleasing and refreshing break in the monot- 
ony. Again, if one must have Chinese and Japanese 
styles, it is better to wait until the articles can be 
chosen in the best markets, where varieties and beau- 
ties undreamed of in America and Europe can be had 
at half price. 

Owing to the intense heat, a dozen, at least, of 
everything in underwear is advisable. Muslin or linen 
for the drawers, chemises, and petticoats ; heavy merino 



AND FOREIGN TRA VEL 197 

vests and drawers for winter, and the thinnest wool 
gauze vests for summer, are required. 

For summer under-skirts, nun's veiling is the best 
material. In all under-clothes fine lace or puffing is 
troublesome to have done up. Although washing is 
cheap, it is hard to get fine work done. 

One thing is urgentl}?' recommended ; that each lady 
bring witli her a well-fitted waist-lining. It is easy 
to find native tailors everywhere who will, like the 
Chinaman who copied the sailors' breeches even to the 
patch in the seat, copy a dress exactlv, and 3^et are 
utterly unable to fit a person without a pattern. 

Rubber goods should be chosen with care, as some- 
thing in the atmosphere rots and cracks all rubber in 
a very short time. 

Every lady must expect to provide herself soon after 
her arrival with a tin or zinc lined camphor-wood 
chest, long enough to hold her best dresses unfolded. 
Such boxes can be made by native carpenters for from 
seven to twelve dollars (silver). 

From the wardrobe to the toilette is but a step, and 
the recommendation for a good supply of face pow- 
ders, soaps, cologne, and perfumes, especially if one 
is accustomed to use onl}^ special kinds — may be par- 
doned, as well as the following. 

Stationary, much and varied, is a necessity ; everj^thing 
is done by notes, or, as they are called, "chits; hence 
an unlimited number of notes, invitations, regrets, 
acceptances, inquiries, thanks, etc., are always being 



ig8 DRESS FOR HOME 

exchanged ; even the orders to trades-people necessitate 
those ; so that a varied assortment of papers and cards 
is a comfort. Most notes are sent by private messen- 
ger in a chit, or receipt-book, which is returned. 

Custom-house duties being merely nominal, it is 
easy to import all that one wishes from England, 
France, Germany, and the United States by the 
steamer lines running to those countries. All the mate- 
rials for drawing, painting in oil or water colors or on 
china, embroidery or fancy-work, and music of any 
kind, must be imported." 

DRESS FOR OCEAN TRAVEL 

Woolen dresses made in the prevailing fashion and 
with as little ornamentation as possible are the cor- 
rect gowns for ocean travel. If cloth is used for the 
dress it should be more than carefully sponged before 
making up, so that dampness can not affect it. Flan- 
nel treated in the same manner is also an excellent fab- 
ric for these dresses, Tweed, cheviot and suiting cloth, 
in not too heavy quality, make the finest and most 
dressy ones, however. 

The best dressed ocean traveller will provide herself 
with a wrap of the same material as the dress. This 
may be a long close fitting coat or it may be only a 
jacket just as the wearer considers most becoming and 
most fashionable. 

Other heavy wraps and rugs will also be required 
for the V03'age, if the voyager is not confined all the 
trip to her state-room. But for pleasant bright days 



AND FOREIGN TRA VEL 199 

the jacket or coat, as tbe case may be, will be all that 
is required for the daily promenade on deck. 

A soft felt hat or Tarn o' Shanter cap makes the 
proper headcovering. This can be thrown aside at 
will, or drawn over the eyes, to one side or the other 
of the head as the sun or wind demands. 

An ocean steamer is not a good place to indulge in 
worn boots. Neat, snug fitting ones are quite neces- 
sary, as the feet are as much an index to your charac- 
ter as the tidiness of your hands, and the deck of an 
ocean steamer is a great revealer of them. Woolen 
underwear and black silk petticoats afford the most 
protection during the voyage and do not soil easily. 

There is no need for many changes of dress while 
on board ship. One other dress may be added to the 
regular traveling gown to be carried in the little 
steamer trunk, but it will probably never see daylight, 
as ladies are not expected to make dinner or evening 
toilets. It need only be carried for use in case of seri- 
ous accident to the first gown. 

A pretty dark woolen wrapper or tea gown will be 
required for use in your state-room only, and be sure 
to have a large number of fresh handkerchiefs and 
your full supply of toilet appointments. 

When traveling in England or on the continent very 
little variation is made in dress. It is the same one 
requires in America. However, the matter of luggage 
is a much more important matter. The charges on 
extra baggage are enormous compared to those in 
America, and the traveller should be governed thereby. 



CHAPTER XVI 
MOURNING 

MOURNING FOR WIDOWS — MOURNING FOR A PARENT, CHILD 

OR SISTER children's AND SCHOOL-GIRLS' MOURNING 

COMPLIMENTARY MOURNING SECOND MOURNING FOR 

THE NECK 

MOURNING FOR WIDOWS 

The mourning worn by middle aged widows is the 
deepest worn by any woman. Fashion dictates mate- 
rials from season to season, but lustreless cloth heavily 
trimmed with crape is the orthodox fabric used. In 
families where crape is considered unwholesome 
woolen stuffs without lustre, such as serges and camels- 
hair cloths, are used. They are not so costly as crape 
either. For winter these serges and cloths are deep 
mourning, while for warmer seasons, tamise cloth, nun's 
veiling and iron-frame grenadine are proper fabrics. 

Widows wear this deep mourning for one year, two 
years, and often for life according to circumstances and 
their own feelings on the subject. 

The severe designs denominated tailor-made are 
especially suitable for mourning costumes. The plain 



MOURNING 201 

round skirt and pointed basque, made to fit perfectly, 
is the design always in style. Around the bottom of 
the skirt deep folds of crape are added. For widows 
this fold or band is sometimes as wide as half the 
depth of the skirt. Folds of crape are introduced on 
the bodice and sleeves more or less profusely according 
to the taste and age of the wearer. 

The more elegant of mourning dresses arc made 
over silk foundation skirts and with silk bodice lin- 
ings. 

Wraps to be worn with first mourning dresses are 
made of the same material as the dress. Jackets, long 
cloaks or short mantles are alike in good taste for such 
garments. For winter they must be warmly wadded 
and lined. Any trimming except crape is not in good 
taste. Fur or embroidery of silk or passementerie 
should never be used. In the coldest climates of the 
United States fur garments are absolutely required but 
fur-lined cloaks are to be preferred to sealskins in such 
instances. 

The widow's bonnet varies in shape as do other 
.'ashions l)ut its characteristics should always include 
small size and the utmost simplicit}' in make and 
ornamentation. The widow's veil is long enough in 
front to come to within eight or nine inches of the 
bottom of the dress skirt and to hang half this length 
behind. The hem sliould be fifteen to eighteen inches 
deep. The most costly and handsome veils are of 
crape, but they are not the most durable. Nun's veil- 



202 MOURNING 

ing is liked and much used. It is much lighter and 
is not so easily affected by dampness and dust. 

MOURNING FOR A PARENT, CHILD OR SISTER 

For mourning for a parent, child, brother or sister 
the same materials are employed for the first mourning 
as widows use. It differs from the widow's dress in 
that it may follow prevailing st3des in cut and trim- 
ming. Crape is used as velvet, ribbon or passemen- 
terie is on colored costumes. The mourning bonnets 
should not be so severe in shape and the veil worn 
will be much shorter than for the widow's mourning. In 
these cases the veil extends only to the knees in front 
and to the waist at the back. 

This mourning for a parent, brother, or sister is 
worn for one year when it is lightened by black silk 
without crape. When it is a mother mourning for a 
child it should only be worn nine months, and during 
only three months of the nine should the crape, less 
deep than for a widow, be worn. Then for the six 
months following black dresses only should be worn. 

children's AND SCHOOLGIRLS' MOURNING 

School -girls in their teens have seldom more than 
the first dress trimmed with crape and afterward wear 
flannel, serge or cloth trimmed with braid. It is always 
most deplorable when childhood must put on mourning 
and it should at all times be made as light and of as short 
duration as possible. Their dresses are simpl}' made 
of serges and homespuns, without the fragile crape 



MOURNING 203 

trimmings that are so soon defaced and are always 
unsuitable for children. Their black hats of felt or 
straw are always trimmed with black feathers or jaunty 
ribbon knots in as coquettish a manner as their little 
friends wear in colors. Custom demands their cloaks 
or jackets should be black and with very little orna- 
mentation. 

COMPLIMENTARY MOURNING 

The mourning worn for distant relatives or for con- 
nections by marriage, complimentary mourning, is 
merely all black garments \\orn ordinarily by those 
who are not in mourning at all. For dresses of this 
kind, cashmere trimmed with braid or silk, grenadines 
and lace or silks trimmed with jet ornamentation, are 
used. The younger women vary this mourning by 
wearing pure white dresses for pretentious occasions. 
Rich lustreless silks are those perferred by elderly 
women for the same purpose and trained skirts add much 
to the dignity of such toilettes. 

The same rules hold good in regard to the hats and 
bonnets worn during this period. Felt and straw- 
shapes with lace, feathers and other fashionable acces- 
sories are permissible, although black must always be 
their hue. Crape is not used in such instances unless 
it is otherwise fashionable. 

SECOND MOURNING 

Strictly speaking, second mourning consists of the 
same mourning assumed for complimentary, but the 



204 



MOURNING 



dead black Is soon relieved by the adoption of gray, 
purple, lilac and heliotrope. These colors are more 
generally preferred to combinations of black and white 
which are also in accordance with the strict rules of 
second or half mourning. 

For very elegant second mourning toilettes, jet and 
embroidery are sometimes introduced but lace is never 
considered mourning in any sense of the word. Even 
in light second mourning when lace is used over white, 
it is not in the truest idea mourning. Gold ornaments 
should never be worn with any kind of mourning. 

While we can not sympathize with those who demand 
black underwear as necessary to complete deep mourn- 
ing, still it is in the best taste to discard white petti- 
coats, substituting black silk or worsted ones. 

FOR THE NECK 

White is often worn at the neck and wrists in the 
deepest mourning, as it is considered by some very 
unwholesome for black crape to come in contact with 
the skin, on account of its dye, and because of the 
small flakes that escape from it. Widows wear a 
Byron collar and deep outside cuffs of white organdy 
with a hem an inch deep ; these, with a small white 
tarletan cap in Fanchon shape, are used by widows 
only. • Two or three bias folds of white canvas or of 
crepe lisse are worn by those in mourning for par- 
ents, brothers, sisters, or children. There are also leaf 
scollops of lisse in two or tliree rows, and plain piqud 
folds. Those who insist upon black for the neck, how- 



AWURNING 205 

ever, use bias folds of canvas grenadine or of silk mus- 
lin in preference to crape. 

Common-sense and decency should characterize the 
gradual discarding of mourning. Crepe lisse at the 
neck and wrists leads the way to second mourning. A 
lighter veil succeeds the heavy crape one, before the 
veil is absolutely discarded. And in such gradual 
transition the changes should be effected. 



CHAPTER XVII 
BRIDAL OUTFITS 

SEASONABLE GOWNS — THE VEIL BRIDESMAIDS' DRESSES 

FOR QUIET WEDDINGS — THE BEST DATE — BRIDES' TRAVEL- 
ING DRESSES THE GENERAL TROUSSEAU 

SEASONABLE GOWNS 

The morals of fashion in weddings should always be 
governed by good taste. There should never be any- 
thing done or worn at a marriage ceremony which can 
in any way make the ceremony light or ridiculous. 

The dress and attendants of the bride should be in 
keeping with the season and her position in society. 

At a June wedding the dress of the bride should be 
of the thinnest and lightest material. If she has a 
great deal of real lace, let it be put over the thinnest 
white crape or gauze, and her veil should be pinned 
on so that it will not be too heavy on the head. 

As for the bridesmaids, they can not have prettier 
dresses than white lace ; the white dotted or imitation 
laces which can be washed make very pretty and not 
too expensive dresses. 



BRIDAL OUTFITS 207 

But the fashion for June weddings, especially in the 
country, is always somewhat eccentric, and permits 
dresses of percale, brilliantine, muslin, and other sum- 
mer materials. Round hats crowned with flowers and 
little bonnets are also in order. Nothing can be pret- 
tier than a bridal group arranged by an artist so that 
every bridesmaid makes a picture by herself. The old 
fashion of hiding a silver coin, a thimble, and a ring in 
the cake has been revived. The one who gets the ring 
will be first married; the one who gets the thimble 
is assured of single blessedness; the fortunate possesor 
of the coin will have great wealth. 

At a December wedding the bridesmaid carries a 
large bunch of holly with glossy leaves and red berries, 
the flowers then in season, just as the eldest sister of 
this bride might choose Easter lilies for her maidens, in 
Easter week. For the midwinter wedding the ten ushers 
might wear white hyacinths for bcutonnieres, white 
satin scarfs, and pearl scarf-pins; their pearhcolored 
gloves have wide stitching in pearl-color, and are pre- 
cisely like tnose worn by the groom. The bride carries 
a prayer-book with soft white leather cover and a "posy" 
of long-stemmed Parma violets. Her gown being of 
white silk muslin over satin, the tulle veil may have a 
wide lace border. 

Satin, soft repped silk and lace are used for the 
most luxurious wedding dresses. At no other time in 
her life docs a woman want to be better dressed than 
on her wedding day and if she has wealth and social 



2o8 BRIDAL OUTFITS 

position, it is perfectly proper to wear as elegant and 
beautiful a gown as money can provide. Yet an extrava- 
gant display, where it cannot be afforded, is one of the 
most unseemly spectacles in social life. 

However, costliness in dress does not alone make a 
beautiful bride, there are many simple, yet most beau- 
tiful fabrics that may be used for her robe. Mull and 
crape are both available. Tulle dresses are often sug- 
gested for the same purpose ; but if well made the}' are 
costly and more easily spoiled than either mull or 
crape. 

Where there is a lace flounce in the family, it belongs 
to the bride, as a matter of course, but for young women, 
its omission is never noted. 

THE VEIL 

Tulle veils are preferred for very young brides. Lace 
veils are seldom becoming, but, like the lace flounce, 
if there is one in the family, the bride generally wears 
it. The tulle for veils is three yards and one-half wide 
and should be long enough to reach to the end of the 
train. Its edges are evenly cut and not hemmed. If 
the train of the bridal dress is cut rounded, that end of 
the veil is curved to follow the outlines of the train. 
A small piece of the veil is generally worn over the 
face until the ceremony iscompleted when, the maid of 
honor assists in raising it. The fulness of the veil is 
massed in a small space just over the bride's coiffure. 
It is fastened by either jeweled or simple long pins. 

In Germany the tulle veil after the ceremony is 



BRIDAL OUTFITS ■ 209 

divided up and carried away b}^ the unmarried guests 
to dream on, as we do on wedding cake in America. 
bridesmaids' dresses 

A bride alwa3^s suggests the dresses for her brides- 
maids, and the greatest latitude is allowed in their 
style and material. 

It may be she will decide to be accompanied b}' two 
small girls, who walk just before her to the altar. They 
should be dressed in quaint and picturesque fashion 
and be supplied with fresh, delicate flowers. Or she 
may have instead, two little boys, dressed as pages, 
either to walk immediately behind as train-bearers, or 
to precede her, as if to make way for the bride. 

But the stately grown-up bridesmaids are of more 
importance. The finely dotted net called point d'sprit 
is a beautiful material for their dresess, at least for 
the skirts, while the waists may be made in silk, satin or 
some other heavier fabric. This net is very inexpen- 
sive and is very effective trimmed with either lace, 
ribbon or flowers. 

China silk and the China crapes which always drape so 
beautifully are delightful gowns for bridesmaids. Where 
there are six, eight or ten maids it is an effective fash- 
ion to have them assume in couples, different colors. 
For instance two maids ma}'' wear pink, two yellow, 
two blue and two violet. They should carry flowers of 
their respective hues. 

Large hats or picturesque bonnets are sometimes 

worn by the bridesmaids with beautiful effect, and again 
14 



2IO BRIDAL OUTFITS 

when the bridesmaids prefer demi-trained dresses, short 
veils of tulle are worn reaching half way down the 
skirt. They are usually fastened on with pins and no 
flowers are worn on the hair. 

Fashions of the day must dictate regarding the gloves 
and shoes worn both by the bride an'd her maids. Still 
slippers made of the material of the dress worn and 
undressed white kid gloves will alwa)'s be unobtrusive 
and elegant in their effect. Slippers made of the dress 
material are not expensive and any city shoe shop will 
get them up for less than five dollars. 

FOR QUIET WEDDINGS 

For brides, whose tastes are more subdued, when 
no maids are to be in attendance, the question of dress 
is of much simpler solution. She may wear her trav- 
elling dress, or a simple light house dress and be pro- 
nounced a most beautiful bride. 

Widows who are again marrying, also seek something 
not ostentatious. There is no law against young wid- 
ows being accompanied by maids but society is gov- 
erned by unwritten edicts often and this is one of 
them. 

Brides who are in mourning, should cetainly throw 
aside black for the marriage at least, even when they 
resume it soon afterward. 

Young ladies who marry widowers, sometimes con- 
sider it etiquette to be married in a bonnet and high 
dress. If they are not very young, this is perhaps 
better. 



BRIDAL OUTFITS 211 

THE BEST DATE 

Amongst the Romans, June was considered the most 
propitious month for a wedding. Whether the mar- 
riage of Juno to Jove gave them any great reason to 
think so or not we cannot ascertain. But they were 
true to the Queen of Heaven, and paid her all the 
honors. 

Nothing can be more lovel}' than a June wedding in 
England on a great estate, where the church is near the 
house. First come the singing boys out of the church 
chanting an epithalamium. They walk before the rec- 
tor and his assistants, all robed in white, to the door 
through which the bride is to pass. Then out of the 
house come the child bridesmaids, scattering flowers ; 
then the stately grown-up bridesmaids ; then the bride 
on her father's arm ; then the boys strike up a new 
song, and precede the whole party to the church. After 
the ceremony the bride comes out first, and the girls 
of the Sunday-school, all dressed in white, precede her 
with songs, to her door scattering flowers ; the rest of 
the party follow. And then the reception is held in 
her mother's favorite room, generally where the old 
family portraits are hung. 

brides' TRAVELING DRESSES 

It is not at all necessary a bride's travelling dress 
should be fine and rich ; a splendid dress would be 
really unsuitable. It should be only fresh and well 
fitting and the simpler always the better. 



212 BRIDAL OUTFITS 

That famous or infamous young woman who declared 
she found nothing in all the consolations of religion 
equal to the comforting consciousness of being well 
dressed, might insist upon a splendid toilette, but her 
followers are rare. Traveling dresses for brides in 
England are also often very elegant. Velvets, satins 
and embroidered light woolens are often used. But 
their railway trains are less dusty than ours and more 
secluded and then there, the groom generally drives 
the bride in his own carriage to some neighboring 
country-seat, where they spend the honeymoon. A 
fine carriage, with four horses, all decked with white 
favors is a pretty sight and the bride dressed in light col- 
ors in it with the happy groom makes it still prettier. 

However, in America, our railway coaches have 
become so perfected with regard to ventilation, one 
may wear a toilette suitable for the drawing-room. 
Indeed, the days of taking a worn out dress in which 
to travel are past and one's station in life may be deter- 
mined quite nearl}^ by the clothes you wear when trav- 
eling. 

Consequently the going-away gown of the bride is 
generally tailor-made and some fine, dark cloth is 
employed for it. For a winter bride, velvet or some 
similar fabric may be employed in combination, but 
neat stitching or plain well pressed edges make the 
cloth gown in the best fashion for Fall and Spring 
seasons' purposes. The hat should be a small fash- 
ionable shape, just sufficientl}' handsome to correspond 



BRIDAL OUTFITS 213 

with the gown. The traveling hat is frequently made 
in part or altogether of the material used for the gown. 
The traveling toilette is never complete without a 
seasonable wrap. If the weather permits, a jacket or 
long coat made of the same material as the dress is in 
excellent taste but in winter, the sealskin or cloth wrap 
provided for general wear is all that is necessar)'. 

THE GENERAL TROUSSEAU 

The old fashion of stocking a bride with clothes 
enough to last her the remainder of her natural life 
haspassedinto history. That foolish idea is banished. 

A young woman should only provide herself with a 
complete and good outfit of clothes such as she should 
have at hand all her life. 

This outfit should be fresh and well made and not 
lacking in necessaries, but that does not mean a dozen 
dozen of each piece of underwear and a dozen trunks 
filled with frocks. It means rather just enough cloth- 
ing to last the bride one year, at the furthest. 

No woman with real womanly pride wants her pros- 
pective husband to provide her trousseau, and no woman 
wishes her husband to be put to much expense imme- 
diately. Yet it is not best to leave it too long before 
allowing him to provide something for her comfort 
and adorning. He will take a pleasure in doing it 
and such harmless pleasures should not be denied him. 

It is difficult to discriminate or to make positive 
general rules that will be useful but for a young woman 
in moderate circumstances, moving in a modest circle 



214 BRIDAL OUTFITS 

of society, a hint may be given and from that others 
ma}^ draw information. 

Such a bride will require but one half-dozen night 
dresses, the same number of drawers, undervests, cor- 
set-covers and dressing sacques. She will want the 
same number of petticoats, with two flannel short ones, 
one white and one colored. 

A long black silk petticoat should be among the first 
six. She will need the same number of hose, two 
pairs of walking boots and as many house shoes. She 
should have six to ten pairs of gloves and plenty of 
collars and pieces of ruching and lace for her dresses. 
Handkerchiefs may be unlimited but one dozen is 
sufficient. There must be a winter wrap and one for 
spring and autumn wear. Three hats will be required, 
one for the best, one for general and another for even- 
ing wear. 

By way of gowns, she must have two woolen street 
dresses, as many silk visiting or dinner dresses, one 
evening dress at least — her wedding gown will answer, 
if it is not too elaborate — two simple and pretty house 
dresses and a heavy and a lighter wrapper or teagown. 

She should be provided with good brushes for the 
toilette and all the other necessaries for the same. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
FANCY AND THEATRICAL DRESSING 

MATERIALS FOR STAGE DRESSES EFFECTS OF COLOR 

WAISTS AND SKIRTS SOME FANCY DRESSES 

MATERIALS FOR STAGE DRESSES 

Materials for stage dresses are almost limitless. 
There was a time when actresses wore gaudy gowns 
made of the cheapest and flimsiest materials. But the 
circus of the nineteenth century would not tolerate 
them now. Indeed, in these days of luxurious stage 
dressing, the richest fabrics are often employed. 

Perhaps there is no better department to visit in a 
shop, when hunting for materials for stage dresses than 
the upholstering department. The soft drapery silks, 
the heavy brocades and the handsome trimmings used 
for draperies and furniture coverings are found very 
effective for stage dresses. Miss Ellen Terry was 
among the first, we believe, to patronize these depart- 
ments and no actress has worn more artistic gowns 
than she. 

They are always remembered as distinctly elegant 

215 



2i6 FANCY AND THEATRICAL DRESSING 

and appropriate. These fabrics make picture dresses 
that belong to the "impressionists" school rather than 
to Meissonier's where detail is more thought of. 

But one soon finds that delicate fabrics, refined 
"arrangements" of lace and minute details, that would 
be appreciated in the drawing-room are lost sight of 
and wasted in distant stage effects. 

For instance, not long since a Spanish g3'psy dress 
was required for a cliaracter in the opera "Carmen." 
A dainty rose silk was elaborately trimmed with black 
lace of fine quality and cut jet. The dress was exquis- 
itely beautiful off the stage. The lady wore it for the 
first time with her sister in the audience to take notes. 
She immediately recognized the dress a failure. It 
was not ugly but it was inane. It would never do at 
all. Before it was worn again, it was treated to a 
strong dose of red and gilt. A wide sash of soft red silk 
was draped over the hips. The ends of the sash were 
plentifully ornamented with loose gilt sequins. Pendent 
loops of red ribbon finished like the sash ends were 
mingled in the black lace flounce of the skirt and the 
bodice and sleeves were trimmed past recognition in 
the red and gilt. The dress then proved most effective 
while not at all too gaudy. However, if one is an exper- 
ienced purchaser, there are cheaper materials which 
produce fine effects and many actresses employ them, 
for pla5's of short runs and for incidental occasions. 
Foreign draperies make artistic fabrics of great beauty 
but no intrinsic worth. They are, however, difficulty 



FANCY AND THE A TRICAL DRESSING 2 1 7 

to find, it takes time and patient shopping to unearth 
them generally. 

But stage wear is very hard upon materials, and 
goods which are frail and easily wrinkled are scarcely 
worth purchasing and making up. The simple wear 
on the stage is not worth mentioning, but it is the put- 
ting on and off every night for weeks and the packing 
in trunks for traveling that make stage clothes grow 
passe. The actress' life is a busy one and she has but 
little time for repairing or freshening up a gown in 
use, as it really often requires. 

EFFECTS OF COLOR 

Select your colors in a strong gas or electric light. 
Bear in mind those to be worn by others in the same 
scenes with you, as well as the scenes themselves. For 
wood or garden scenes, where a vivid green is the 
prevailing tone, your costume should be of dull neutral 
tints that will be restful to the eye. No greater mis- 
take can be made than employing very vivid colors and 
glaring effects on the stage of the present day ; colors 
may be as carefully chosen as though for a private 
ball or boudoir tea gown, but certain conditions have 
to be criticall}' considered, which in a drawing-room 
would be of no consequence whatever. 

For example, the effect of paititcd scenery is to change 
the tone of certain yellows, blues, and greens. A more 
intense yellow can be worn on the stage than off ; those 
yellows inclining to /5;7y7t'// requiring something to light 
them up, or the yellow tones are lost ; deep damask 



2i8 FANCY AND THEATRICAL DRESSING 

will bring these out, white nullifies them, and blue in 
any shade must not approach them. Brocades show 
to best advantage with a clear ground and some pre- 
dominant color, but in such a case there must be a 
"rule of three" observed, which, indeed, is useful in all 
costuming. For example, if red predominates in a 
brocaded over-dress or polonaise, let us say, red must 
be employed twice at least in the remainder of the cos- 
tume ; as a lacing which shows occasionally, in a knot 
of ribbon on the shoulder or elsewhere, in a frilling, 
or even in the stockings ; and here we might say that 
a rule very generally to be remembered is that the 
stockings ought to repeat some color in the upper part 
of the dress. 

It is impossible to say why the following of these 
rules should be productive of a harmonious effect. 
Subtle as it seems, the fact is indisputable, and will 
repay attention. Many costumers and professionals 
are most careful in following these unwritten laws from 
mere force of habit, but by studying the question 
many new ideas suggest themselves to the mind. 

Incongruities in the color of such articles as jewelry, 
fans, parasols and flowers are to be carefully avoided 
and in this connection remember that whatever is car- 
ried in the hand is of the first importance. The move- 
ments of the hands attract and fix the e3^e unconsciously 
on the object held within them and its form and color 
are for the time, the key-note of the general effect. So 
particular is one actress about this point, that of one 



FANCY AND THE A TRICAL DRESSING 2 1 9 

of her most famous costumes she sent back the handker- 
chief-bag, she was to have carried, because it was lined 
with green plush similar to that of her dress. 

"But, mademoiselle, " pleaded the modiste, "the lin- 
ing matches precisely. " 

"That is exactly it, "said the actress. "Do you not 
see? The eye will fasten itself on the green of m)' 
little bag, and — poiif! — where then is the effect of the 
greoi in my dress? It reduces it to nothing. Line 
the bag with whatever color is most becoming to the 
skirt, so when I stand and open it, then the effect 
will be delightful." 

And the result proved as she predicted. The lining 
of rich old gold gave a starting-point, as it were, to 
the impression of her green plush gown, and she cer- 
tainly opened her little bag with admirable effect. 

There is no question, perhaps, connected with the- 
atricals so perplexing to beginners as that of costum- 
ing for stage effect. Old professionals find it diffi- 
cult to be sure of results ; so much depends upon lit- 
tle details and to secure successful results, not only is 
some technical knowledge indispensable, but judicious 
criticism "from the front" is absolutely required. 

For private theatricals where the stage is simply an 
adjoining room or a small raised and screened plat- 
form, the difference need not be so marked. Still to 
dress for an audience as one would for a drawing- 
room is impossible even in society comedy parts. No 
clearer evidence can be given of this than seeing an 



220 FANCY AND THEATRICAL DI^ESSING 

actress in an evening company/, dressed just as in the 
scene she has quitted. The costume maj^ have seemed 
very simple behind the footlights but in the drawing- 
room its strong points are decidedly too marked; the 
touches which has been so effective on the stage look 
coarse and outre in the social scene to which she has 
hurried. 

WAISTS AND SKIRTS 

For the professional stage there is no one article 
more necessar}^ in the wardrobe than the white waists 
known in the profession as "ballet shirts." They are 
used with many costumes and are a great protection 
to slip en under a hired costume, which one is fre- 
quently forced to don when a change of bill is sud- 
denly made. 

The ballet shirt is made of fine white cambric, mull 
or China silk. It will require frequent washing and 
needs to be well made and of a good quality of either 
fabric. It is simply a loose full blouse made with 
a drawing-string along its lower edge which will held 
it in at the waist. At the neck it may be either finished 
by a medium sized turn-over collar or it may be gath- 
ered with an edge on a silk tape also. The sleeves 
should be very full and large, cut long enough to reach 
the hand. They should be gathered at the top and 
sewed in to the waist at the armseye, but gathered on 
another drawing-string at the wrist. With this arrange- 
ment, the sleeves may be worn flowing, free from the 
arm \ they may be drawn up close to the wrist, or 



FANCY AND THE A TRICAL DRESSING 221 

they may be tied up on the arm just below the elbow 
forming a puffed half-length sleeve. Jackets and 
pointed bodices are very effective worn over them, 
indeed much more effective than when worn over closa 
fitted waists. 

The length of skirts is another important factor in 
stage dressing. The effect of distance and the raised 
stage changes the effect of the skirt's length. If a 
short skirt is to be worn it should be short enough to 
show the upward curve in the limb above the ankle; 
otherwise the limb looks awkward. With sliort skirts 
there should always be a lace or soft mull flounce 
tacked on to the under-side of the skirt with the lace 
edge falling jvist below the skirt's edge. 

Skirts worn on the street or in the house are always cut 
two or more inches longer at the back than in the front. 
But for short skirts on the stage, this should never be 
done. The back always appears longer than the front 
when seen from "in front" when they are of even 
length and an added half inch makes the skirt hang in 
a very objectionable manner. This applies alike to 
petticoats and dress skirts. 

As a rule drawing-strings are used in stage skirts, 
although yokes are preferable on stout figures. 

The width of fancy and stage skirts and petticoats 
is also a trifle arbitrary as they sluiukl be made quite 
scant, much more narrow than a round short skirt for 
a miss is usually made. 



222 FANCY AND THEATRICAL DRESSING 

SOME FANCY DRESSES 

The following are a few fancy dresses designed by 
one of the cleverest French genre-painters : The first 
represents a panther. It is composed of a short skirt 
of yellow moire, striped with brown in a zigzag pat- 
tern, and is fastened on the hips with panther claws. 
The low sleeveless bodice is of sealskin and adheres 
tightly to the figure. A court mantle made of real 
panther skin is attached to the shoulders with diamond 
clasps also in the shape of claws. Brown silk stock- 
ings and shoes made in the form of the animal's paws 
with onyx heels and claws are worn with this dress, 
and the coiffure consists of a tiny panther's head with 
emerald eyes, placed flat on the slightly waved hair. 

The second is a Greek shepherdess. The loose gown 
is of white crepe de chine, edged with silver arabesque. 
A silver galoon gathers the flowing soft folds of crepe 
in spirals around the waist and is tied on the left side. 
The hat is silvered straw, with a garland of wheat-ears 
made of coral around the low crown. Flesh colored 
silk stockings and silver sandals with pink coral heels 
complete this simple but pretty costume. 

The North Pole is another of the great artist's exqui- 
site compositions. It is 2^ four e a of shimmering pearl- 
colored satin over which are gathered folds of soft and 
extremel}' transparent silk gauze; diamonds and rock 
crystals cover almost every part of the skirt and cor- 
sage, which are edged with swans-down powdered with 
diamond dust. A long square court-mantle of cloth of 



FANCY AND THE A TRICAL DRESSING 223 

silver hangs from the left shoulder, where it is fastened 
by a dazzling diamond star. Scattered all over this 
mantle are snowballs made of swans-down and icicles 
of rock cr5'stal The hair is powdered and a scarf of 
thinnest white gauze spangled with silver is airily 
thrown over it. A great crescent of diamonds and 
sapphires is placed above the forehead and a chaplet of 
icicles encircles the waist. 

Last but not least comes a most ethereal mixture of 
primrose velvet and ros}' tulle representing "Dawn." 
The skirt is very short and is of pale primrose vel- 
vet and rosy tulle powdered with a shower of peach 
blossom petals and buds, and hemmed by a thick gar- 
land of peach-blossoms sparkling with dewdrops. The 
bodice is entirely composed of peach-blossoms, over 
which a delicate veil of dew-bespangled tulle is draped. 
A wood dove with outspread wings clings to the left 
hip and another nestles in the powdered hair, forming 
a delightful and novel coiffure. 

Then, there is the Polish girl, who must wear a 
corselet with a slashed skirt of ruby velveteen, bordered 
with white fur, over a dress of blue vicuna cloth 
wrought with gold thread about the edges. Her hat, 
with its long ostrich feather, and her high boots are 
also in ruby velvet trimmed with white fur. A ba3'adere 
scarf is knotted about her waist, a necklace formed of 
two rows of gold beads is clasped about her throat, and 
there is a bow of blue ribbon fastening her long braided 
hair. 



224 FANCY A ND THE A TRIG A L DRESSING 

The Roman contadina will, of course, have a black 
merino skirt, and a black velvet corselet, above which 
there rises a white linen chemisette elaborately woven 
or embroidered in many-colored threads, as is also the 
square apron confined to the waist with a bright rib- 
bon. There are coral beads round the neck ; the white 
muslin head-dress is trimmed with lace and fastened 
to the head with small gold pins. 

The dress of the Roumanian peasant made with a 
straight skirt, full waist, and flowing sleeves is all of 
white linen embroidered in intricate designs with col- 
ored cottons and tinsel. The belt is of figured gold 
galoon, with tassels, and the cap is of linen, elabor- 
ately embroidered to match the dress. The stockings 
are cotton of some striking color. 

The Albanian maid is perhaps the most striking of 
the group. She wears full knickerbockers in soft red 
silk. Her txmic is of blue beige crossed with inser- 
tions of embroidery and the fringed scarf which con- 
fines it is striped gauze of varied hues. Over a blouse 
in tinsel muslin is thrown a loose jacket of deep red 
velvet. The daint}^ feet are incased in red silk stock- 
ings and little Turkish slippers in red morocco. The 
fez, which completes this picturesque costume, is 
thickly covered with gold sequins. 

A Tunisian is alwaj^s an attractive member. Over 
a short skirt of black nun's veiling, bordered with rows 
of gold braid, this young person wears a blue cloth 
frock made with a bewildering number of revers and 



FANCY AND THE A TRIG A L DRESSING 225 

lapels and tabs, all wrought with gold thread. The 
long, loose sleeves are ver}' like the flowing "angel" 
sleeves that everybody wore twentv years ago. On 
her fluffy hair rests a blue and gold cap. 

Two pretty, bright costumes belong to the peasants 
of Provencal and Flanders. The frock of the former 
is of gray delaine or cashmere, edged with gold cord. 
About the neck is a stiff collarette of lace and muslin, 
while the sleeves are trimmed with a double row of 
lace. The coquettish little apron with its two pockets 
is of black silk edged with a lace frilling ; the circular, 
somewhat forbidding cap is "built" of black wired net, 
with a goffered brim and a pleated aigrette. The whit- 
est of stockings, blackest of shoes, and a tiny gold 
cross hung about the neck on a bit of black velvet 
complete this costume. The Flemish peasant's dress 
is even more elaborate. The frock itself is of maroon 
serge trimmed with rows of narrow black velvet ribbon. 
The tunic and the corselet, fastening over a low chemi- 
sette of white muslin, are of a cedar brown wool 
embroidered with gold. The apron is edged with lace, 
as is also the coiffure of tambour muslin, which is 
fastened with small gold pins. 

A quaint little figure is the Dutch girl, who is sure 

to carry her welcome with her into wherever she goes. 

She wears a sober skirt of brown beige, with a black 

velvet stay laced with silver braid, rows of which also 

appear upon her black silk apron. Her chemisette of 

white muslin is very simply made, and fastened with 
15 



226 FANCY AND THE A TRIG A L DRESSING 

gold linked buttons. On her yellow hair is a wonderful 
muslin cap secured with bristling cork-screw pins in 
gold. 



CHAPTER XIX 
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN MILLINER 

CORRECT TASTE TO TRIM A HAT HOW TO ISIAKE A STIFF 

CROWNED HAT OR BONNET MAKING DRAWN BONNETS 

OR HATS — TASTE IN COLOR 

CORRECT TASTE 

It would be interesting to discover how man}^ of 
the charmingly dressed women of to-day whose becom- 
ing and stylish hats and bonnets constantly challenge 
admiration in churches, theatres, in the Park, and upon 
the streets, are actually their own milliners. But a 
correct census would be extremely difficult to obtain. 

Undoubtedly a number of women of fashion are the 
authors of their own dainty head-gear, but they do not, 
as a rule, acknowledge their handiwork. While some 
even take great pains to conceal their skill, as for 
example, when a hat-band bearing the name of some 
London, Paris, or New York house of vogue is care- 
fully cut from a discarded bonnet and inserted in the 
home-made article. This silent witness removes all 

necessity for repeated prevarication. Even privileged 

227 



228 HO W TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 

intimates who are admitted to the sanctity of my 
lady's dressing-room, and see the inside of her new 
bonnet, can thus read for themselves where the "cre- 
ation" hails from. 

The woman who can do this must have the sense 
of color and form of an artist, and of an "artist-artisan. " 
She must be gifted specially who can produce beautiful 
bonnets entirely on the strength of her own inspira- 
tions and without any knowledge of the technique of 
the trade. 

Some women are born with a knack for putting rib- 
bons, laces, and feathers together, making lovely 
headgear out of almost any materials. They are born 
milliners and instinctively go to work the right way. 
Others must learn the trade or not attempt to do the 
work. 

Nothing definite can be said as to the amount of 
materials required. This depends upon the shape 
chosen, the way it is made, and the kind of material 
used. Of crepe de chine three yards can be put in a 
bonnet, it is so soft and filmy. The same amount 
could be crushed in your hand. Of heavier materials 
a proportionate less amount is generally needed, but 
no rule can be given. 

Do not over trim. That is one of the worst faults 
of inartistic millinery. Nothing offends good taste 
more than a too lavish use of ornament in any direc- 
tion. Every artist seeks simplicity, and you will find 



HO IV TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 229 

it true that the most stylish chapeau is always one that 
is not greatly trimmed. 

That American women are supremely endowed in 
this direction can not be denied. At the same time 
the thought occurs that if some of these home bon- 
net-makers would only be a bit more careful about the 
finish of their work — if they would only guard against 
a certain carelessness of detail which imparts an unmis- 
takably "homemade" appearance to their efforts — the 
slight extra trouble thereby incurred would be fully 
atoned for, by the exquisite perfection of the result. 

Neatness and not primness is the thing to practice; 
however, a hat or bonnet which is given too many 
stitches or is sewed too tight is never artistic, but 
carelessness or rough unfinished work can ever be artis- 
tic either. 

TO TRIM A HAT 

An amateur will not be wise to commence by attempt- 
ing an entire hat, but will begin with simply trimming 
a straw or felt shape. This is a much simpler thing 
to do. Let us take for example a round straw or felt 
hat that is to be trimmed with velvet and a bird's wing ; 
that is as simple as the making of any hat can be. 

"The design, should always be thought out before 
trimmings are handled; that, at least, is my method," 
said a milliner lately. "I know exactly how it is to look 
before I give my orders and can tell just how much of 
each kind of material will be required. My suggestion is 
to use as little material as possible to produce the 



230 HO W TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 

desired effect. Have no useless ends turned under or 
folded out of sight ; they spoil the effect. Cut off all 
that is not needed and discard everytliing that is not a 
part of the design. " 

There should be as little sewing as possible, but all 
must be firmly fastened, so that there shall be no loose 
ends or coming to pieces. Nothing can look neat that 
is insecure. On the other hand, too much sewing 
will make a stiff, awkward effect, so be careful to place 
stitches only where they are needed for securit)\ 

In the first place, in trimming a hat, the velvet should 
be purchased cut on the bias of the goods. Every clerk 
will sell it in that wa3^ Cut from one edge of the vel- 
vet a length one and one-half inch in width, as a binding 
for the edge of the hat brim. Lay this along the edge of 
the brim upon its under-side with the velvet's wrong side 
out. Stitch it on with a strong cotton thread taking 
long back stitches, holding the velvet tight. Then 
turn under the other edge of the velvet and it over 
the edge of the brim and if the ends of the velvet are 
joined, no further sewing is required as the binding 
will fit tightly in place. 

If tlie crown of the round hat is to be trimmed with 
a smooth band of velvet laid around it, cut the band 
the required width allowing a good half-inch to turn 
in on each side. Cut it bais the same as the binding. 
Baste in place the turn-under on each side with fine 
cotton in long stitches and fasten tlie band tight around 
the crown of the hat. Then draw out the bastings. 



HO W TO BE YO UR O WN MIL L INER 2 3 1 

When we say to draw the bias bands or binding 
tight we do not mean too tight, but close enough to 
make them lay close to the shape. 

Then come the loops, bows or knots of velvet among 
which the stiff feather is attached. These vary much 
according to fashion's edicts but the loop about three 
inches wide, and about as long when doubled in, is 
almost alwaj'S a part of the ornamentation. It is made 
also of the velvet cut bias with its edges turned in and 
held in place by long slip-stitches. When they are 
wanted to stand erect, a bonnet wire must be inserted 
in the fold and tacked fast to the hat in the desired 
position. 

The application of a facing to a broad-brimmed hat, 
or a flaring bonnet, presents the next difficulty for 
conquest. The apprentice learns to cut carefully from 
the frame, or shape, of straw or felt, an exact pattern 
in paper, which is then laid upon the material and the 
facing fashioned according to it. This insures accur- 
acy and prevents waste of material. 

When these merely mechanical parts of millinery 
have been mastered, then comes all the adjustment 
of bows and folds, frills, feathers and other fripperies 
and it is best to learn the knack of adjustment by 
copying the work of others. Then the young milliner 
soon turns her own graceful fancy loose, when, if she 
is the least bit of an artist in her trade, she will pres- 
ently begin to produce original arrangements. 



232 HOW TO BE YOUR O WN MILLINER 

HOW TO MAKE A STIFF CROWNED HAT OR BONNET 

Those who undertake to learn the trade of millinery, 
find that wire and buckram and foundation net repre- 
sent the A B C's of the art. The novice in the trade 
must spend a good six months learning to form shapes 
with thesematerials. She copies them at first from oth- 
er frames, then from plates,, and finally, carrying out 
some written or verbal description, she is able to model 
the hat or bonnet without a pattern. 

But there are shops where the most desirable "shapes" 
or "frames" can be purchased ready made and it is a 
pure waste of time to make them oneself. Perhaps 
the exact shape wanted may not be obtainable, but 
something very near to it is generally, and it will be 
found by experience, a very easy matter to make altera- 
tions in it. 

For instance if the brim is too wide, rip off the wire 
cord which finishes the edge and carefully trim off the 
buckram or stiff net of which the frame is made ; then 
in the long over-casting stitch, fasten the wire on again 
to the new and shorter edge. If the brim is too nar- 
row, it is almost as simple a matter to take some stiff 
crinoline or buckram and lay it on the present brim 
allowing it to extend to the desired size. An extra wire 
should always finish this new edge. If the crown is 
found too small, it can be slashed at the back or side 
where the greater room is required and a wire sewed 
all around the crown and over the opening will hold 
it in place. Of course it is well understood that the 



HO IV TO BE YO UR O WN MIL L INER 233 

frame or foundation can be bent, fastened up or down 
on one side or the other and generally changed as taste 
or fancy may dictate. 

There is no comfort in a bonnet which does not 
fit easily and exactly to the head, —which either hurts 
the temples of the wearer, or falls back with the first 
puff of wind. You will learn by practice how to 
judge of the size of the crown, and the bend of the 
frame so as to make the bonnet comfortable to the 
wearer. However, all enlarging or making smaller 
must be completed before beginning to cover the frame 
with the outside material. 

But when the "anatomy" of the hat or bonnet has 
been mastered in this way the next step is to cloth it. 

A pattern must be cut for each part. First, a pat- 
tern for the top of the crown, another for the sides, 
another for the top of the brim and yet another for 
the under side of the brim. It may seem superfluous 
to cut patterns for the upper and under sides of the 
brim separately, but it will be found on the whole the 
better course to pursue. These patterns should be cut 
by laying smooth, not too stiff paper, on each part, 
and creasing it until it fits the frame exactly. 

The crown top is easily cut, but the brims demand 
more patience. For them take a straight piece of 
paper as wide as the widest part of the brim and 
gradually lay it around the brim until it fits, by lay- 
ing pleats to make it do so. Fasten each pleat in 
place with a pin. After this has been done, trim off 



234 HO W TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 

its edges to correspond with the edges of the brim 
and then lay it on a large square of smooth paper and, 
allowing for seams on each edge, cut out another pat- 
tern without pleats in it. Lay this on the brim so as 
to be sure no mistake has been made. Then proceed 
to cut the under brim pattern and the sides of the 
crown in the same manner. 

When the patterns are prepared lay them all on the 
velvet, silk or cloth to be used for making the hat. 
By doing this, much material may be saved. It is a 
canon in milliner}^ to make coverings of brims and 
crowns bias in front, even if they slope until quite 
straight at the back. 

When the parts have been cut, first lay the crown 
on the frame smoothly ; tack it in place with pins stuck 
through just once and then stitch it fast permanently 
with long back stitches. Cotton holds these parts 
better than silk thread. Then lay the two brim 
covers together with their right sides next each other 
and seam their outer edges together. All seams and 
over-lapping edges should be pared off as narrow as 
possible. Slip these covers over the brim, which will 
require a little bending of the brim to do, but it will 
easily bend back into the proper shape. 

A very much simpler way would be to take a bias 
piece of the material twice as wide as the brim and 
almost twice as long as the brim is around, gather it 
on each edge and draw it over the brim, making what 



HO W TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER lis 

is called a fulled brim. These are always becoming 
and soft against the face. 

For this fulled brim, a roll of soft tissue paper, as 
large as your finger is tacked on the edge of the brim 
before the gathered material is drawn over it. This 
gives a desirable extra softness to the edge. 

Let the inside edges of these brim covers extend up on 
the crown and notch those edges until they set into the 
frame properly. After this la}' the covering around the 
sides of the crown. This must cover the raw edges of 
both crown and upper brim cover. Baste a turn-over on 
each side of this cover for the sides of the crown and 
draw it tightly around the crown. After it is fastened 
together at its ends, the bastings may be clipped here 
and there and all drawn out. 

The last touch is a crown lining, a double piece of 
gauze is sewed by long stitches at the edge of the crown 
and then drawn tightly up at the center so that not a 
shred of frame is left exposed to catch and ruffle the 
hair of the wearer. 

MAKING DRAWN BONNETS OR HATS 

The front of a drawn bonnet is made of a length of silk 
cut the straight way; — that is, with the selvage going 
round the outer edge of the front, to prevent the neces- 
sity of any joining, A broad hem is made, in which 
there are three, four or five runnings, forming casings for 
the wire or cords which are to be slipped in. Through 
the outermost of these casings, a stiff wire is run, to 
give the right shape to the front. Other sets of cas- 



236 HOW TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 

ings have to be run in the front, according to the 
number of drawings intended. 

The cord, or whalebones, having been slipped into 
the casings, must be fastened at one end. The silk is 
then drawn into shape, and the whalebones are fastened 
at the other end. Whalebones are often purchased 
ready prepared for white bonnets, — that is, covered 
with white paper. Supporters of wire, covered with 
silk the same color as the bonnet, or covered silk wires 
manufactured for the purpose, are fixed from the outer 
to the inner edge of the front to keep the whole firmly 
in its shape. The crown is drawn in the same way as 
the front, and is made circular by being fixed to a 
wired net. 

Not infrequently the amateur milliner trims her bon- 
nets too much. It is often the finest art which lets 
them alone, and a pretty velvet hat or bonnet, the 
curves of which crown or frame the face becomingly — 
gather up the brightness of Goldilock's tresses or rim 
the dusky masses of a dark beauty's hair — requires but 
slight adornment. 

Still this must be governed a great deal by prevailing 
stjdes, and practice in trimming. It takes a little time 
to learn just how to twist the wires of flowers to make 
them lay close to the hat, and much patience to make 
an ostrich plume curve just the right way. 

The hat-amateur often skips the preliminaries of 
the trade and plunges at once into all the perplexities 
of velvet, tulle, flowers, feather? and furbelows. Not 



- HO IV TO BE YD UR O WN MILLINER 237 

infrequently her experiments prove expensive failures. 
She is pretty sure to waste a good deal of material, 
and she invariably takes several thousand times the 
number of stitches which are really essential to the 
successful fabrication of the attempted headpiece, but 
success awaits her further on along the lane of her 
experience, and she finally achieves a bonnet to feel 
proud of, and acquires a degree of skill which is sur- 
prising in one entirely self-taught. 

But if she will carefully read the above suggestions 
she can not go far astray. We ma}^ mention here that 
milliners and dressmakers are subject to two troubles 
which would be trifles to any body else, but which 
are serious inconveniences to them. One is the warmth 
of the hands, in summer time, and in all seasons of 
hurry and over-fatigue ; and the other is the roughness 
of the forefinger of the left hand, from the skin being 
perpetually broken with the needle. The heat of the 
hands may injure some delicate colors, and take out 
the stiffness from net or ribbons : and the roughness of 
the fore finger may fray satin and fine muslins, and 
catch disagreeably at the blonde or net that you are 
employed upon. If you have been well taught, how- 
ever, you will have acquired a habit of holding your 
work lightly in your fingers, so as not to touch more 
of the material at one time than is necessary. If 3'ou 
grasp it in the palm of j^our hand, it is impossible 
that any look of newness should remain in your mate- 
rial when your work is done. The only remedy for the 



238 HO \V TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 

inconvenience of warm hands is dipping them fre- 
quently in warm water. Pumice stone will smooth off 
the forefinger perfectly. 

TASTE IN COLORS 

Our success as a milliner will much depend on the 
knowledge and taste we acquire about the choice and 
arrangement of colors. A good eye for colors is neces- 
sar}' in the dress-maker, but it is perhaps the very first 
professional requisite for the milliner. 

ft is certain that some colors are naturally more agree- 
able to eyes than others. Everyone, for instance, 
relishes the bright green of the meadows, and the shaded 
greens of the woods, more than any kind of reds, 
unless the reds are mixed with other colors. It is no 
less true that some mixtures of colors are pleasing to 
all eyes, and others displeasing to most. Every one 
likes to see lilac and green together ; and lilac and 
primrose ; red and dark green ; fawn color and blue ; 
brown and yellow and pale blue and pink. On the 
other hand, every one sees ugliness in a mixture of 
blue and green red and yellow, yellow and pink, lilac 
and blue, and many others. If your eye does not 
teach you this much at the outset, we should fear that 
you would hardly excel in the more ornamental parts 
of the work you will have to do. If, however, your 
natural taste be ever so good, you will find that you 
may refine and improve it exceedingly by observation 
and study. If you are in earnest, every object in the 
beautiful kingdom of Nature, — every flower in the fields 



HO W TO BE YO UR O WN MILLINER 239 

and gardens, and every cloud in the morning and even- 
ing sky, will give you lessons in the blending of colors. 
And what lessons can be pleasanter than the study of 
beauty? 

One plain rule on this subject is, to make the arti- 
cle, — whether it is gown, bonnet, or cap, — of one pre- 
vailing color, keeping the trimmings subordinate to it. 
It is unsatisfactory and painful to the eye to be dis- 
tracted among a variety of colors, — no one prevailing 
for the e3^e to rest upon. If a dress is made of a striped 
or checked material, where no color prevails, the 
trimming should be made of one only of the colors, 
and one of the soberest ; so as to give to the dress the 
predominance of hue which is wanting in the material. 
Another plain rule is, to arrange by daylight the col- 
ors of a dress or a hat which is to be worn by day-light ; 
and to wait for gas-light to choose the trimmings of 
a winter evening dress. Colors which agree beauti- 
fully at noon, sometimes fail miserably by gas-light, 
either producing no effect at all, or looking positively 
ugly. Even in matching, this precaution is required. 
That which is a perfect match in the morning may 
turn out something quite different in the yellow light 
of the drawing-room. 

Such nicety is particularly necessary in matching 
black. The handsome appearance of mourning mainly 
depends on the entire dress being of a uniform black. 
Mourning, however new and costly, looks shabby if 
the gown be of "jet" black, the drapery" of "medium," 
and the trimming of "purple" black. 



( 



CHAPTER XX 
THE DRESSMAKER AT HOME 

THREE METHODS PREPARING FOR THE HOME DRESSMAKER 

HINTS FOR MAKING OVER DRESSES 

THREE METHODS 

The woman who can with her own fingers make her 
own gowns is a very independent woman, and need 
never look dowdy. It is to furnish such knowledge 
this book was written. Even if a woman does not 
need or wish to devote her time to the business of 
making her own or other's clothes, she should be 
possessed of the knowledge in order to know how to 
obtain good work from others. 

Every woman who presides over a house that is com- 
fortable and homelike must understand the principles of 
cooking and sweeping and dusting although she may 
never be required to actively engage in them. 

There are only three ways of keeping ones wardrobe 
in order; first a woman ma}'^ go to a dressmaker and 

give an order for the gown and when it is decided that 

240 



THE DRESSMAKER A T HOME 241 

it is a street or house dress that it is to be blue, brown 
or some other color, she leaves the details of finish 
and cost to madame. This is alwaj's an eas}^ way out 
of the difficulty although it is not alwa3's an entirely 
satisfactory one. 

In the second place, a woman may bu}', cut and make 
her own gowns. This guide will enable her to do so, 
if she has the time at her disposal and the woman 
who has this enviable faculty of fashioning her own 
simple gowns is usually a better dressed individual 
than the helpless creature who spends twice the money 
on the gowns her dressmaker plans and makes for her, 
and which have little individuality or originality in 
their arrangement, and might be worn by twenty other 
women as well as the one who pa3's such enormous 
prices for them. 

In the third place, a woman may secure a home 
dressmaker and personally supervise the work in its 
detail, for women who can not do all their sewing, this 
is a good thing to do when half worn garments are to 
be made over. 

PREPARING FOR THE HOME DRESSMAKER 

In such case to economi?^e time and expense, all pos- 
sible preparations should be made for the dressmaker 
before she comes. Gowns be ripped apart, cloth 
sponged and pressed, silk cleaned, laces for trimming 
freshened, and all new materials to be used bought 
and in the house. Linings, sewing-silk, thread, twist, 

whalebones, reeds, hooks and eyes, braid, buttons, 
16 



242 THE DRESSMAKER A T HOME 

should all be provided, that when the dressmaker 
arrives her work may be ready for her, and no time 
need be wasted in sending for articles for lack of which 
everything is at a stand-still. All goods to be dyed 
must be sent to the dye-house at least three weeks 
before they are wanted. A word of caution may not 
be amiss with regard tcT dyeing. Some woolens dye 
nicely, but it never pays to dye a silk. The crackling, 
stiff quality imparted to it by the process stamps it 
unmistakably. Even a fine silk looks cheap and com- 
mon after dyeing. 

Garments may often be dyed without being ripped. 
Waists are apt to shrink and stretch out of shape, 
but a skirt is not seriously altered. Every grease spot 
must be sponged from the fabric before it is sent to the 
dyers. If not, it is certain to appear later, and 
is then almost impossible to eradicate. 

The task of ripping can be taken up at odd moments, 
and a great deal thus be accomplished. There should 
be a roomy receptacle for all scraps. Either a trunk 
or a large drawer may be set aside for pieces, or if both 
of these are out of the question, there should be sev- 
eral piece-bags provided, one for linings, another for 
wash goods, another for woolens, another for silks, 
velvets, and plushes. The remnants of each kind and 
color should be made into neat rolls, pinned or tied. 
Smaller bags may hold buttons, hooks and eyes, etc. 
By the practice of such a system as this, infinite time 
and trouble may be saved. The habit of keeping but- 



THE DRESSMAKER A T HOME 243 

tons from year to year is to be commended, as a set 
that has been worn one season on a street costume 
may do duty later, on a house-gown or a wrapper. 

When the dressmaker has arrived, and is fairly set- 
tled at her work, the house keeper's period of trial 
begins. She is in a strait betwixt two. She wishes 
to spend all the time she can with the seam tress. In 
addition to this, it is an indisputable fact, be the 
reason what it may, that even the most conscientious 
dressmaker, apart from the assistance she receives, 
accomplishes more when she has some one sewing 
with her than when she is left to herself. The house- 
wife realizes this, and knows that to lessen the amount 
of time she must keep the "necessarj^ evil," and pro- 
portionately diminish the bill for services rendered, she 
should offer all the help in her power. Yet the remem- 
brance is fresh in her mind of the masculine animad- 
version upon the prevalent state of the larder during 
the period of "making over." 

To achieve her desire she should so arrange her 
work that she will have few extra duties while her 
dressmaking is on hand. She should make no out- 
side engagements that can possibly be avoided. She 
should also exercise judgment in selecting such 
dishes for the table as lie within the capabilities of 
her work, and yet guard against a plainness of food in 
too marked contrast to the ordinary mode of living. 
There are plenty of pretty desserts, notabl}' those of 
fruit, that are simply made, and do not demand the 



244 THE DRESSMAKER A T HOME 

presence of the mistress in the kitchen. Now, too, is 
the time to call upon the resources of the grocer, and 
to purchase potted and curried fowl, game, sausages, 
kippered fish, and the many nice prepared puddings. 
As well, the housewife should guard against permitting 
her absorption in her work to cause her lapse into 
carelessness of house or person. 

HINTS FOR MAKING OVER DRESSES 

All through our preceding chapters on sewing, the 
necessity of careful, painstaking pressing with a hot 
iron is emphasised, but in making over garments it is 
even more indispensable. When the garment is ripped 
apart each piece should be pressed and when new 
seams are sewed or new hems and facings made, the 
pressing into final shape must be thoroughly done. 

But before beginning these details one golden rule 
may be laid down as appliable to every department of 
dressmaking : this is simplicity. 

It is quite probable that the sewing-machine did 
much to introduce fussiness into dress ; but the first 
wild impulse, which rose with its advent, to put all 
the stitches possible on a garment, long ago died a 
natural death, though its ghost rises up now and then 
to haunt us. The ancient Greeks had no sewing- 
machines, and their costumes are models of artistic 
beaut}^ With them there was no temptation to sacri- 
fice grace to stitching. 

It is the common fault of the amateur dressmaker 
to put too much work on a garment. A fussy gown is 



THE DRESSMAKER AT HOME 245 

never a tasteful one ; and a costume is often marred by 
meaningless details. When women sometimes spend 
days or weeks on some elaborate design, which when 
applied to the costume artistically ruins it, it repre- 
sents time, strength, patience and perhaps ingenuit}', 
but not taste. Hence a great deal of strength is spent 
without good results. There is safety in plainness. 
It is not so bad a rule to begin a dress with the idea 
of leaving off the trimming. Though this may seem 
to point to the other extreme, it will at least result 
in a simple garment. Coquetry is allowable in dress, 
but fussiness, never. 

In combining two materials that have been used 
before in a dress, the home dressmaker is advised to 
select a plain fabric for the most important parts, and 
figured stuff or stripes for the accessories. She is also 
warned not to use too much of the figured goods, as a 
preponderance of what should be the subordinate fab- 
ric detracts from the elegance of the gown. Three 
yards of the contrasting material can be far more effec- 
tively arranged than if six yards were used. 

The home dressmaker wlio wishes to furnish up the 
front of a partly worn corsage is advised that soft vests 
or plastrons are easily put on, and are generally more 
stilish than smooth vests. A single breadth of surah silk 
is all that is needed, and this may be used alike for silk 
or wool dresses, and may be of the same color or in 
bright contrast. Red or white soft vests are seen on 
dresses of almost any color, and it may be added here 



246 THE DRESSMAKER AT HOME 

that the crinkled silk Japanese crape is chosen for very 
handsome vests instead of surah. The breadth is 
shirred across the top, which is curved to fit the neck 
of the dress in front, and is sewed on three inches of 
the right side of the dress neck, making the middle 
reach the buttons, and is then lapped the same distance 
on the left side, where it disappears under a revers of 
the dress goods or velvet. This vest may be long 
enough to extend to the waist-line, or even to drop 
below it in a puff, or it may be a short square or else 
pointed to stop at the top of the darts, where a stom- 
acher may meet it, or the fronts of the dress may be 
laced below or simply buttoned. 

A high velvet collar also freshens up a dress, and 
when made with the vest just described, should lap to 
the left side, and be cut in a point there, or else held 
by a small bow of ribbon. 

A bright yellow or poppy red Japanese crape vest is 
liked for black silk or grenadine dresses, and with this 
may be V spaces cut between the vest and sleeves, 
and filled with a puff of the crape. The sleeves are 
then completed with a puff of the same, coming out 
like an under-sleeve, which is gathered on a wrist band 
of ribbon. 

A yard of beaded passementerie can be made to retrim 
a plain waist and sleeves prettily by putting a row 
down each front from neck to darts, beginning an inch 
below the button-holes. The lower end is finished 
with a point or a tassel. A row of the trimming is 



THE DRESSMAKER A T HOME 247 

placed on the upper side of the sleeve at the wrist, 
and below this is a gathered scarf of the dress goods. 
If a dog-collar is to be covered with the beaded trim- 
ming, a yard and a half will be needed, and galoon 
with straight edges should be chosen in preference to 
the vine patterns of passementerie. Beaded fringe 
two inches wide may be cut in short strips and placed 
crosswise each side of the buttons of a corsage. If the 
lower edge of one row laps over the top of that below 
it, it makes a very effective trimming. 

A black surah or gros grain basque can be tastefully 
trimmed anew with three-eighths of a yard of jetted 
net, which is gathered up as a full plastron, square 
or in V shape, and there will be enough left for a 
gathered scarf on each sleeve as a cuff. 

Now, in the making over of house dresses it must 
be remembered that they are alwa5^s most attractive 
and charming if they are made in light dainty colors, 
particularly if the woman who wears them would please 
the man she likes, and what woman dresses at home 
for any other purpose? Men are the most gullible 
creatures about dress. They are caught with a color 
every time. Your new street gown comes home in its 
quiet, refined elegance, for which you have paid a 
perfectly scandalous amount, and the man for whose 
opinion and admiration you care most elevates his 
lordly nasal organ to a very disagreeable angle and 
thinks the gown is well enough. You wearsome light- 
tinted gown that has been cleaned and turned and 



248 THE DRESSMAKER A T HOME 

dyed, that you made yourself, or that a cheap home 
dressmaker toggled together for you, you give it a 
dash of gold somewhere, and, behold, the man raves, 
and will have you wear nothing else. And so these 
simple gowns that the clever woman can make herself 
will be sure to satisfy the husband when he comes 
home to dinner, if there are no formal guests, or the 
lover who drops in unexpectedly in the evening. 



CHAPTER XXI 
FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES. 

VELVET — SILK — LINEN CLOTH LACES — EMBROIDERIES 

OSTRICH FEATHERS — WIDTHS OF DRESS FABRICS 

VELVET 

Velvet is the handsomest among handsome materials ; 
in Europe, since the first centuries of our era, it was 
considered as a sumptuous fabric and was called Samit. 
About the year 800, the famous Caliph Haroun-al- 
Raschid presented the emperor Charlemagne with sev- 
eral pieces of beautiful Samit manufactured in Persia. 

At a later period M^hen the city of Antioch was pil- 
laged in 1098, the Crusaders seized upon such an enor- 
mous quantity of Samit that many chiefs and soldiers 
made considerable money by selling pieces of that 
precious material. 

Velvet was always called Samit in the eastern countries 
as, according to tradition, it was believed that the 
island of Samos only would produce the special kind 
of silk purposely and exclusively employed for manu- 
facturing the Samit. 

249 



250 FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES 

At first the beautiful texture was reserved for the 
dead — illustrious persons were wrapped in Saiiiit shrouds 
and a pall of the same was thrown over the coffin — 
but, some Mussulman princes took a fancy to Samit 
turbans, and, henceforth, it was considered the richest 
material for handsome garments and turbans. 

In Europe our great grandmothers of the eleventh 
century, whose taste and elegance were equal to our 
own, wore Samit costumes; these dresses were more 
elaborate than the present costumes: the style consisted 
of a species of long tunic with large funnel-shaped 
sleeves ; this had a broad border richly embroidered in 
gold and pearls and worn over a narrow skirt made with 
silk, and edged with heavy gold fringe ; this skirt set off 
all the beauty of the Samit tunic. 

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the 
nobility of both sexes had their coat-of-arms embroid- 
ered on the dress ; the various bright colors and gold 
and silver threads employed on those emblazoned gar- 
ments produce a magnificent effect on the rich ground 
of the Samit. 

About the same epoch Samit was given another name 
in Europe, and called Velux, Veloiix, Velvet, Velluyan; 
it was also adapted to other various usages, such as 
hangings and coverlets for beds, also covering mat- 
tresses ; this was an Eastern custom greatly appreci- 
ated by Sybarites. 

Some time about the twelfth century Sainits were 
manufactured in Palermo and some other cities in 



FA BRICS, L A CES AND EM BR 01 DERI ES 25 1 

Italy; Lucca was celebrated for its velvet manufacture, 
at the same time ornaments and rich garments for the 
church were made with the utmost success. 

"Knights alone, in their own right, could wear Vel- 
vet." 

A dress reported as magnificent was worn by Mar- 
garet of York on her marriage with Duke Charles the 
Bold of Burgundy; she was attired in a splendid robe 
of white Samit edged with a very deep band embroid- 
ered with gold, rubies, pearls and emeralds; and this 
dress, very becoming to her style of beauty, fitted her 
to perfection. 

The end of the fourteenth century introduced the 
fashion of blue velvet with series of gold fleur-de-lis; 
history describes Charles VII. dressed in blue velvet; 
even his saddle-cloth was to match. 

Agnes Sorrel, the "Dame deBeaute, " favorite of the 
king, was particularly fond of velvet ; in all portraits 
she is represented attired in black or blue velvet robes ; 
the shape being a kind of princess dress trimmed with 
ermine; the corsage was laced in front; she dressed 
always superbly and the ladies of the Court followed 
her example. 

At a later period, and well worth mentioning, was 
the superb and immense court-mantle of royal purple 
velvet, lined and bordered with ermine and fastened by 
wonderful diamond clasps, worn by Eleanor, the sec- 
ond wife of Francis I., of France, when she entered in 
state the city of Bordeaux. 



252 FABRICS, L A CES A ND EMBR OIDERIES 

The bridal dress of Mary Queen of Scots, when she 
married Francis, the dauphin of France, was greatly 
admired, her robe and court-mantle being of white vel- 
vet embroidered in white silk and precious stones. 

It was in 1470 that the first manufacture of velvet 
was establishd at Tours in France. Six 5^ears later, 
the Duke of Brittany, Francis II., sent. for some Flor- 
entine mechanics, very skillful in their art, who took 
charge of a manufactory established in Vitre by the 
duke. 

Subsequently, in 1536, Stephen Turgucti ?i.\\d. Barthol- 
omew Nariz, both from Genoa, were authorized, b}^ spec- 
ial license of king Francis I. of France, to establish a 
manufacture of silks and velvets in the city of Lyons ; 
from that time to this present day, the Lyons manu- 
factures have maintained their unrivalled celebrit}^ 

The best velvet is fine soft and pliable, made entirely 
of silk. The nap is sliort, thick and even. For milli- 
nery the narrow widths cut to the best advantage, but 
for dresses and wraps the wider varieties should be 
chosen. This because the less number of seams possi- 
ble the better. There is no way of making them less 
apparent, as can be done in manj^ other fabrics hy thor- 
ough pressing. 

To be didactic, a study of texture will pay the stu- 
dent. It is all nonsense to buy cheap stuffs. The}' do 
not pay. They never look nice. They wear just as 
long as a good fabric, but they are shoddy to the end. 
A cotton handkerchief will last as long as a linen hem- 



FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES 253 

stitched and so will a cotton towel, but one has to 
take the shower of fluff with economy, and the vio- 
lence done to taste and the loss of personal comfort 
vastly outweigh the gain in nione}'. 

Don't buy velvet or any other fabric unless you can 
afford it. If you get a cotton back, the warp will stare 
at you day and night. The frequency of special sales 
makes it possible for a woman to get a very excellent 
dress pattern now and then for a reasonable price. 

SILK 

The manufacture of silk was first introduced into 
England during the reign of Henry VI. However, it 
was an important industry in China from a very remote 
period. It is spoken of in that country's records as 
far back as 2640 B. C. But the Chinese guarded their 
secret of its manufacture most jealously. Still before 
the time of Alexander, tlie Great, it had penetrated to 
the island of Cos. We are informed that Famphile, 
the daughter of Plates was the first to spin the wind- 
ings of the cocoons, and subserve the labors of the silk 
worm to the adornment of beauty. Persistent efforts 
have been made to stimulate sericulture in both Great 
Britain and America but with little success. The 
looms of Persia and Italy are celebrated, but China, 
Japan and the Levant continue the markets where silk 
is manufactured abundantly and permanentl)' 

Silks that are weighted by dye do not wear well and 
are never cheap no matter how small their price. A 
simple way of testing a black silk's purity is to burn 



254 ^^-i BRICS, LACES A ND EMBR OIDERIES 

a small quantity of its threads. Pure silk will instantly 
crisp, leaving a pure charcoal ; heavily dyed silk will 
smoulder, leaving a yellow greasy ash. 

There are two methods of testing silk. If the fila- 
ment of the cocoon can be unwound from it as a con- 
tinuous thread it is reeled and is called "raw silk." 
If for any reason the filament can not be reeled it must 
be spun. The raw material before it is spun is called 
in commerce "waste silk." 

LINEN 

That mummies are frequently found wrapped in linen 
is sufficient proof of its antiquity. In fact its origin 
is so ancient it is unknown. But it is a most useful 
and necessary addition to the clothing of mankind. It 
is a more cleanly and cool fabric than cotton, for the 
latter presents a woolly surface that catches dust and 
absorbs moisture. 

Linen cloths present a glossy smooth surface that 
is as lustrous as satin, and that is as pure, and deli- 
cate as it is healthful and pleasant to the touch. 

Plain linens of heavier weight are used for shirts, 
collars and for bed linen, but the twilled linen includes 
the dimity and damasks for the table. There are also 
the finest linens which are used for handkerchiefs and 
are called lawns and cambrics. 

Very few linens are dyed or printed, although they 
take colors perfectly and wear beautifully. 

In Chapter XXII. further information is given 



FA BR I CS, LA CES A ND EM BR 01 DERI ES 255 

regarding household linens, accompanied with their 
approximate cost and how to keep them in repair. 

CLO'J'H 

Under the head of cloths used for dress purposes 
the range and variety is exceedingly great. Broad- 
cloths are considered the most beautiful in quality and 
appearance. 

Some of the handsomest street dresses are made of 
cloth which is as fine and supple as French kid and not 
much heavier. The greatest beauty of broadcloth is to 
find it soft, not stiff and board-like. The latter quali- 
ties some of the most expensive cloths once possessed 
and they brought broadcloths as a class into disfavor 
with many women, who will not wear stiff heavy gowns 
that have no other recommendation than that they 
will not wear out. But when the thin fine varieties 
were introduced ladies accepted them unanimously 
and it is not likely the}^ will ever grow less popular. 

Tweeds and camel's-hair cloths also form some of the 
most popular dress fabrics. They are made of equally 
fine wools often but they are more loosely woven and 
show a rougher surface than broadcloth. 

There is also another division made in cloths, which 
has been designated as worsted cloths. They embrace 
the fabrics well known as serges, merinos, delaines, 
Russell and Bedford cords, tartans, camelets, repps 
and woolen sateens. 

The woolen and the worsted cloths differ in the 
process of making their respective thread, they are 



256 FA BRICS, LA CES AND EMBR OIDERIES 

both woven. Felt cloth is made without either spin- 
ning or weaving but simply by the mutual adhesion 
of the woolen fabrics. 

LACE 

Italy claims the honor of the first record of lace, 
when in 1493 we find in a wardrobe list which belonged 
to two high-born sisters, mention of piiiito a gropo 
the first knotted lace known. The convents of that 
country for a long time manufactured it exclusively, 
and the making of lace in Italy has always been more 
or less under the patronage of the church. Else where, 
ro3'alty had considered it not beneath its consideration 
and from time to time, kings, queens and princesses 
have encouraged and fostered it with their time and 
their money. 

Point lace is recognized as the most precious of all 
laces, and there are eleven different point laces made. 
They are, Venetian Flat Point, Venetian Raised Point, 
Venetian Grounded Point, Spanish Flat Point, Spanish 
Raised Point, Point de France, Point d'Ale9on, Point 
d'Argentan, Brussels Point a I'Aiguille, Brussels Point 
Gaze, Brussels Point Gaze Appliqu6. 

Of these, the art of making Point I'Argentan is lost 
and Brussels point a I'Aiguille has given place to the 
more modern point gaze. The point de France is 
only produced by a few workers, who endeavor to pro- 
duce the old patterns, and the Venetian, Spanish and 
point de France are very limited. Consequently there 
are but three kinds of point lace in the market. These 



FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES 257 

are point gaze, point d'Alencon and Brussels point 
gaze and they rank in value in the order mentioned. 
The great rivals of point lace, are the pillow laces. 
They are made by twisting into set patterns threads 
wound on bobbins. Point laces are made entirely with 
the needle. The most important pillow laces are Val- 
enciennes, Duchesse, Point de Venice, Point de Flan- 
dres, Genoa Point, Point de Medici, Old Brussels 
Plait, Plait Applique, Mechlin, Maltese, Cluny, Tor- 
chon, Lille, Russian, Honiton, Trolly, Regency Point, 
Baby Lace, Breton, Point d'Esprit, Chantilly, Gram- 
mont, Blonde, Guipure, Llama, Cashmere and Yak. 
Of these laces many remain always in use while very 
many more of them come in for a time as very fash- 
ionable and then comet-like disappear from use. 

There are many beautiful laces made with lace braid 
which are sometimes confounded with real point, but 
real point laces are all made entirely with the needle. 

Machine made lace is an important factor in our 
markets as every kind of pillow lace has been imi- 
tated by the loom. Indeed they have almost super- 
seded the cheaper productions of the pillow, but they 
only add to the rarer varieties of all hand made laces. 
The machine made lace called Nottingham is made 
extensively in the United States. 

EMBROIDERY 

Embroidery is a very ancient invention. From the 

testimony of the old testament, Homer and Josephus, 

we find it was of the greatest antiquity. The best 
17 



258 FABRICS, LA CES AND EMBR OIDERIES 

authorities suppose the Phrygians first discovered and 
employed colored silk threads and golden wire for 
ornamenting their clothing. 

The book of Exodus tells of the curtains of the tab- 
ernacle and the garments of its priests wrought by 
hand m beautiful needlework. Homer describes 
Penelope throwing over Ulysses on his departure an 
embroidered garment, on which she h^d worked inci- 
dents of the chase. In the first ages of the Christian 
era embroidery was early carried to the highest degree 
of perfection for use in the decoration of the churches. 
From that time on it was the boast of royal dames that 
they were skilled in handsome embroidery. 

The royal Kensington school in England has done 
much to revive the interest in the truly artistic embroid- 
ery of to-day. America has had the advantages of its 
best teachers and her schools are well patronized and 
her homes show its beneficient influence to-day. 

Egyptian embroideries are often a marked feature 
in dress garniture. These embroideries, as given us, 
though perfectl}^ in accordance with the true scheme of 
Oriental design and workmanship , are, as regards form 
and color, planned to meet the requirements of the 
prevailing fashion of ladies' wearing apparel. 

The Egyptian embroidery is peculiar in character, 
and has the appearance of being almost a solid mass 
of gold or silver work, graceful designs of a conven- 
tional style being traced over cloth until the whole 
surface is practically covered with the glittering threads. 



FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES 259 

Only the best quality of metal is used, and, indeed we 
are informed that the Cairo firms guarantee the gold as 
being untarnishable ; the silver, though of the finest 
make procurable, is always more or less susceptible to 
atmospheric influence, but under ordinary conditions 
will wear well, and the effects produced by its use 
upon white, pale cinnamon, mouse grey, and smoke 
blue cloth, etc., are so excellent that no doubt, many 
ladies will be tempted to run the slight risk incurred. 
In the beautiful embroideries produced by Japanese 
workmen, it will be found that almost invariably some 
one or more masses of closely laid gold thread are 
introduced into and become an important feature of the 
design, and no other nation has ever excelled the per- 
fection with which the craftsmen of Japan manipulate 
this material. In the Kimonos and Fukusas, which 
afford us such an excellent opportunity of studying 
Japanese needlework, the precious metal is practically 
ever present, even the painted crape robes, which are 
merely touched up here and there by reliefs of embroid- 
ery, having a certain portion of their patterns filled 
in with gold thread, and Fukusas, the major portion of 
the design of which will be in silk, are yet sure to have 
a mass of gold introduced. 

OSTRICH FEATHERS 

The trade in ostrich feathers is almost unprecedent- 
ed. For a number of years the demand was so small 
that the raising of the ostrich decreased to the 
extent of forty per cent; and feather-workers had to 



26o FABRICS, LA CES AND EMBR 01 DERI ES 

turn their attention to other channels of industry. But 
now the demand for skilled labor far exceeds the supply. 
A glance at women's toilettes, for the last few years, 
is sufficient to explain the unusual demand. Hats are 
piled with feathers. Bonnets are edged with bands 
and trimmed with clusters of varying sizes, boas and 
collarettes of &y^xy length, thickness and color are 
shown in all the millinery, dressmaking and and dry 
goods houses, and costumes disclose the fact that not 
only are cloaks, wraps and jackets trimmed with feath- 
ers, but gowns also. Carriage cloaks have huge yokes, 
collars and cuffs of feathers, supplemented with wide 
bands of the same bordering the front and lower edges. 
Frequently they are faced inside, some distance from 
the front edge, with ostrich feathers, the fronts be- 
ing rolled back. Even in ball dresses the delicate 
fabrics are festooned aroimd the foot and fastened to 
other parts of the skirt with bunches of tips ; long 
plumes are coiled about the upper part of the arm 
to take the place of a sleeve, while others garjiish the 
corsage. 

The garments for little folks also often have their 
share of the popular trimming, and faces are almost 
hidden under huge felt and beaver flats covered with 
plumes and with the feather ruffs. Besides, there are 
feather fans by the thousands, and countless pretty 
conceits for the decoration of the hair. 

Probably more than one-half of the feathers used in 
America are imported in the natural state and prepared 



FABRICS, LACES AND EMBROIDERIES 261 

here. South Africa is the principal breeding place of 
the ostrich. Ostrich farms have been started in Aus- 
tralia and in San Diego county, California, but the 
supply of feathers from these sources sent to the New 
York markets is scarcely perceptible. The great dis- 
tributing market is London, where auction sales are held 
every other month, and are attended by buyers from 
all parts of the world. Feathers sell from fifteen dol- 
lars to one hundred and fifty dollars a pound, the high- 
est price representing "blood primes" — feathers taken 
from the wings and tail of the male bird when four or 
five years old. The plumage of the female bird is con- 
sidered less choice than that of the male. At the pres- 
ent time value in all grades are fifty per cent in excess 
of those prevailing for several years. 

Some past seasons have been so prosperous that many 
manufacturers employed between four hundred and five 
hundred hands most of the time. A feather manufac- 
tory is not a very inviting place, with great vats, 
sloppy floors, intense heat and steam, but the work- 
is interesting through the heroic measures necessary to 
evolve from the feather in its natural state the dainty 
thing of beauty. Tn the natural state most of the 
feathers are of a dirty gray color, shading to black, 
and of all lengths — from three to perhaps twelve or 
more inches. The quill is thick, and the flew (the 
curly part) straight and lustreless. The darker shades 
are sorted for black feathers, and the lighter for those 
of colored tints, tied in bunches of about two dozen, 



262 FABRICS, LA CES AND EMBROIDERIES 

and strung a few inches apart in sections about one 
and one-half yard in length. To remove the natural 
oil the feathers are soaked for several hours in a strong 
solution of soda and soap, and then scrubbed and thor- 
oughly rinsed. Those for light colors are bleached 
with chemicals before being dyed, but those for black 
are only subjected to a triple dip in jet dye. Shaded 
feathers are made by enclosing parts in rubber shields 
after the solid color has been acquired, and dipping 
them in a contrasting dye and combing while wet. 
They are dried out of doors and in the sun, if possible, 
or in a room where the thermometer registers one 
hundred and fifty degrees. After the starching and 
another drying, each string of feathers is beaten against 
wooden tables, or partitions, to remove superfluous 
starch. So violent is this process that one expects to 
see the plumes fall apart in a hundred or more pieces. 
The only effect, however, of the rough usage is to 
make them look clearer and fluffier than ever. At this 
point the work, which thus far had been done by men, 
is turned over to women, who, in another part of the 
factory, begin the more delicate operations. Feathers 
of all hues, in different stages of development, are 
scattered over long tables. The bunches are separated, 
and the quill of each feather is scraped thin by a bit 
of glass. Afterward, they are sewed together to form 
the various designs, steamedover boilers having numer- 
ous spouts, and curled with an implement like the 
blade of an ordinary jack-knife. Although apparently 



FABRICS, LA CES AND EM BR 01 DERI ES 263 

simple, the task requires considerable skill to avoid 
breaking the flew. Long plumes, boas, and collarettes 
are only slightly curled, the ordinary tip more so, 
while those called "Princess," and the narrow bands 
for the edges of hats and bonnets, are curled in fine 
tight curls. Preparatory to boxing, the tips are bunched 
and marked, the longer feathers, boas, etc., having 
separate boxes. 

WIDTHS OF DRESS FABRICS 

Materials for dresses vary so much in width that the 
beginner needs especial directions respecting the dimen- 
ions of each. Fancy names are, however, given by 
drapers to certain fancy goods each season, and in 
man}' cases the same fabric is sold under four or five 
high-sounding and more or less applicable names. 
Special widths, too, in silks, cashmeres, velvets, etc., 
present other difficulties. Yet there are certain time- 
honored dress materials, the widths of which are un- 
changed from year to year, and as these are also the 
most useful and durable materials for dressmaking, 
we will confine our attention mostly to them. 

Silk, poplin, merino, cashmere, alpaca, velveteen, 
muslin, print, serge and vigogne form a sufficient num- 
ber of materials to learn to cut out upon. 

Nearly all patterns are calculated for dress materials 
of twenty-seven inches wide, this being the ordinary 
and accepted width for dress fabrics. As a matter of 
knowledge, the following table of widths of various 
fabrics has been drawn up ; it will, we hope, be useful 



264 FABRICS, LA CES AND EMBR OIDERIES 



to many, as even when rich fabrics — velvets, for in- 
stance — are not required often for dresses, yet small 
quantities are often wanted for trimmings, and so we 
add this and other rich fabrics to our list. 

Table of Fabrics and the Various Widths of Each 



Alpaca 

Batiste 

Beige 

Black and Colored Silks 

Cashmere 

Cloth and Tweed 

Crape 

Gauze 

Grenadine 

Merino 

Mousseline de Laine 

Muslin 

Plush 

Plush (Seal) 

Poplin 

Sateen 

Satin 

Serge , 

Velvet 

Velveteen 

Vigogne 

Woolen Materials (average) 



INCHES. 

30 36 54 

27 30 — 

25 28 — 

22 26 — 

36 

38 54 72 

23 42 — 

44 — — 

26 — — 

45 46 — 

26 — — 

33 — — 

16 21 24 

54 — — 

30 32 — 

24 27 30 
18 27 — 

28 32 — 
18 20 24 

27 28 — 
27 — — 
27 44 — 



We have not considered fancy materials like broches 
pekins, crepe de chine, which are all very narrow, less, 
than 27 inches. 



CHAPTER XXII 
THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 

IN WHAT IT MUST CONSIST — DARNING TABLE- AND BED 
LINEN — THE LINEN CLOSET 

IN WHAT IT MUST CONSIST 

One can not help remarking upon the often meager 
collection of linen in households where money is 
plenty for other expenditures; and yet exclusive of real 
linen, which, as far as bed-linen is concerned, can 
easily be dispensed with, a ver}^ fair collection can be 
made for sixty dollars and one hundred dollars will 
stock a large closet with excellent linens. The house- 
wife's mother is to blame for this meager supply. 

In this country the majority of the women consider 
their daughter's trousseau complete when sufficient 
personal apparel has been provided for the exigen- 
cies of one or more years. They do not follow the 
customs of their grandmothers, or of ever}' Conti- 
nental mother, and give the daughter about to take 
charge of a new household sufficient linen for every 

emergency, With a collection dating from the nucleus 

265 



266 THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 

provided in a trousseau, and never deviating from the 
rule of immediately replacing whatever is drawn from 
the reserve stock, the shelves are always moderately 
well supplied. 

Exclusive of real linen, and more or less elaborately 
embroidered sheets and pillow-cases, the amount of 
money required to make such a nucleus is not large. 
Of course the size of the reserve stock will govern the 
cost; and if the collection is but modest, no doubt a 
scanty reserve will often have to be drawn upon to 
cover the demands made by sickness, or by the pres- 
ence of "strangers within the gates;" but this need 
deter no one from making a beginning. We here give 
a rough estimate of the amount required to purchase a 
moderate stock of good quality; for here, as everywhere 
else in the household, cheap and coarse material prove 
dearer in the end, and are unlovely while they last : 
six table-cloths (varied lengths), eighteen dollars ; two 
dozen napkins, four dollars ; one dozen tea napkins, one 
dollar and a half ; two dozen towels, four dollars and a 
half; six honey-comb spreads, six dollars; eighteen 
sheets, two and three-quarter yards by two and 
one-half, thirteen dollars and a half ; two dozen pair 
pillow-slips, three-quarters by three-quarters, seven 
dollars ; one dozen dish towels, one dollar and one-half; 
one dozen glass towels, one dollar and a half; one- 
half dozen bath towels, one dollar and a half; one-half 
dozen kitchen hand towels, ninety cents ; four roller 



THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 267 

kitchen towels, one dollar and a half — making in all 
sixty-one dollars and forty cents. 

Of course with the above estimate a household, say 
of four persons and a servant will be able to lay aside 
only a small reserve stock. On the basis of three beds, 
each requiring a honeycomb quilt, two sheets, and 
two pillow-cases, six sheets and twelve pairs of 
pillow-slips can be reserved ; probably six towels and 
two bath towels (for the servant will use the kitchen 
hand towels in her room) can also be spared ; while 
two table-cloths, a dozen napkins, half a dozen glass 
and half a dozen dish towels would make a good 
showing on the upper shelf. You think the reserve 
stock too insignificant to be called such? We have not 
taken into consideration the fact that most households 
have already some stock on hand, and in such cases 
more of the linens can be added to the reserve ; or if 
it be a new household just sprung into existence, and 
the family consists of Adam and Eve alone, less linens 
are required in use, and the reserve is correspondingly 
increased. And granting that the reserve be small, 
remember that it can be gradually increased, and an 
occasional five-dollar bill, judiciously invested, will 
make a respectable addition to a scantily filled shelf. 
Perhaps you have noticed that we have made no allow- 
ance for seamstresses' charges? We have taken it for 
granted that the housewife, for the sake of enlarging 
her stock, is willing to save that expense and do the 
sewing herself. The saving by this means is quite an 



268 THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 

item ; though the seamstress ma}' charge only a few 
cents for hemming a napkin or a table-cloth, }'et when 
the pieces number dozens the bill counts up rapidl3^ 

DARNING TABLE AND BED LINEN 

Chapters VII and VIII give full directions for hem- 
ming and marking linen and there is no daintier or more 
pleasant work for a woman than this. Articles of wear- 
ing apparel are best repaired by neat patching, but bed 
and table linen ought to be carefully darned. When 
it has been in use for some time, it should be fre- 
quently examined, and the thin places strengthened to 
prevent their becoming holes. It often happens that 
sheets and pillow-cases are either torn at the wash or 
by being caught on hedges or bushes in taking them 
in after drying, and table cloths are sometimes cut by 
the thoughtless use of knives at meals. It is, of course, 
desirable that such injuries should be so skilfully 
mended as to make them as little observable as possi- 
ble. 

A very simple way to mend a hole is by a darn. It 
should extend for at least an inch beyond the hole on all 
sides, and the loops everywhere must be of the same size. 
It ought not to be made square, because it is much 
stronger if the edges be either irregular or wavy. A 
diamond is a good shape to form. Of course small 
holes only are mended in this way, larger ones should 
be patched. 

First carefully cut away the rags from the edges of 
the hole and beginning at the left hand side, thickly 



THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 269 

darn across it, drawing the needle out gently each 
time to avoid pulling up the threads of the material. 
Changing the position of the work, so that what was 
before the bottom of the darn is now the left side, 
cross it, and thus fill the hole with a thick lattice of 
threads, which closely correspond with those of the 
surrounding fabric. 

To darn a three-cornered or hedge tear is rather a te- 
dious thing to do, but careful!}' tack upon a card, at the 
distance of an inch on all sides of the tear and with some 
sewing cotton gently draw the edges as nearly as pos- 
sible into their original position. Then darn backwards 
and forwards from left to right, about double the length 
and width of the rent, taking pains to keep the broken 
threads flat under the cotton during the whole time. 
Then turn the work round as before, and repeat the 
process in the opposite direction. When complete, 
the tear will form two sides of a square of crossed 
darning. Then remove it from the card. If properly 
done, this darn is sccarcely noticeable, 

THE LINEN CLOSET 

The ideal linen closet we have in mind was built 
into a niche in the bedroom wall, and its identity was 
concealed by a mirror set into the door ; only the small 
circle of brass betraying the Yale lock led one to sup 
pose the mirror was other than a toilette accessor)\ 
Unlocked and swung open, one could see behind it 
the closet, whose floor dimensions were about two feet 
and a half by one foot and a half, and whose height 



270 " THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 

equalled that of the room. It was shelved in regular 
spaces from top to bottom, and completely filled with 
snowy linen. There were in all seven shelves, and 
these were covered with ordinary bed-ticking, held in 
place by carpet tacks, under the edges of which were 
twice a year strewn Persian insect powder to prevent 
any entrance of vermin ; above this, so as to exclude 
possible dampness were laid strips of white glazed 
cloth. Two-inch cotton lace, which by hanging down 
conceals the wooden shelf, may be basted along the 
front edge of the ticking, and if washed twice a year 
always looks fresh and white ; this is inexpensive, and 
makes a pretty finish to the shelf. On the two upper 
shelves were kept "reserve" stock; /. e., such table and 
household linens as are not yet taken into use. 

Guarding either end of the top shelf was a pile of 
neatly folded sheets, and between them two piles of 
pillow-cases. The heavily folded edges only appeared 
in front, and all loose ones were turned toward the 
back. 

And this reminds us that whoever would possess a 
neat linen closet must see that all pieces are uniformly 
ironed, that the sheets when folded will be of the same 
length and width, the pillow-cases alwaj^s folded alike, 
and all edges turned inward. 

The sheets numbered six to each pile, and the pillow- 
slips six pairs ; this nearly equalized the height, and 
each set was separately bound together by a bright 
ribbon. Where the narrow ribbon ends met in a small 



THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN i^i 

bow a label was hung descriptive of the articles behind 
it. This label, consisted simply of a piece of white 
muslin, stiffly starched, and edged all around with nar- 
row Italian lace ; it was oblong, and measured perhaps 
seven inches in length by two and a half in height. 
Plain cross-stitch letters worked with red marking 
cotton formed the necessary names of each; as "Linen 
Sheets," "Muslin Pillows," "Quilts," "Dish Towels," 
etc. Reading the labels, we saw that the sheets and 
pillow-slips on the right were linen, and those on the 
left were muslin. On the second shelf were table- 
cloths of different lengths, napkins and towels. 

Here, as on the first shelf, the bright ribbons and 
dainty labels performed their pretty duties. The third 
shelf was heavily laden with Marseilles and honey- 
comb quilts, vying in snowy purity with the glistening 
damask above them. The fourth shelf contained in neat 
arra}^, the sheets and pillow-cases, some plain and some 
embroidered, which were in daily use, the descriptive 
label pinned to the uppermost piece of each of the 
four piles. On the fifth shelf lay towels, bathing 
towels, sheets, and pillow slips for cribs and single 
beds. The sixth contained towels and bed linen for 
servants' use, together with the colored table-linen. 
On the seventh shelf, ordered as perfectly as their 
superiors in rank, lay dish towels, glass towels, cheese- 
cloth dusters, Avindow rags. 

When your linen closet is well stocked and in order, 
allow no one, not even the best of servants, access to 



272 THE HOUSEHOLD LINEN 

it ; when the week's wash comes upstairs, put j'our 
linen awa}^ with 3'our own hands, the fresh pieces at 
the top of each pile to which they belong, and when 
others are required for the regular changes, take those 
that are at the bottom. In this way all reach the wash 
in rotation, and none grow yellow from being too long 
unused. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
LAWS OF CORRECT DRESS 

CONSIDERED FROM THE POINT OF ECONOJiIY CONSIDERED 

FROM THE POINT OF BEAUTY — DRESS FOR SLENDER WOMEN 

DRESS FOR STOUT WOMEN — INDIVIDUALITY IN DRESS — 

DRESS FOR RED HAIR — DRESS FOR BLONDE HAIR — DRESS 

FOR BROWN HAIR — DRESS FOR BLACK HAIR DRESS FOR 

GRAY HAIR JEWELS GENERAL REMARKS 

CONSIDERED FROM THE POINT OF ECONOMY 

One's garments should be selected with a due regard 
for the eternal fitness of things, and common sense 
should govern the device of our wardrobe, and in fact 
it should be the watch-word in all matters which per- 
tain to health and grace which should go hand in hand, 
and not be divorced as they often are by the origina- 
tors of pernicious fashions. 

A woman may dress well without being extravagant, 
if she will employ forethought in her buying. She 
who purchases materials for her summer gowns in the 
fall of the preceding year, or who provides for her 
winter outfit in the spring, is able to secure her cos- 

i8 273 



274 ^^ ^^^5* OF CORRECT DRESS 

tumes much more reasonably than if she buys every- 
thing in its season. When she follows this plan, how- 
ever, she must select goods of quiet color and unobtru- 
sive design, avoiding striking patterns or peculiar col- 
ors that are likely to become passe before they are 
made into dresses. Indeed, it is wise for the woman 
who will probably have to make her dresses do service 
for more than one season, to choose tints and fabrics 
for qualities that will wear. 

A mistake frequently made by women who are am- 
bitious to dress well and who have small means with 
which to accomplish it, is that of endeavoring to 
imitate rich costumes in inexpensive materials. A 
cheap velvet or plush or a flimsy silk is as poor an 
investment as one can make. A good tricot, cashmere, 
or serge that does not pretend to be anything remark- 
able looks better than the more pretentious fabrics. 
Consistency in dress is always admirable. The attempt 
to dress beyond one's means is not only wrong, but 
absurd. 

To-day is the harvest time of the home dressmaker. 
All the expensive novelties in dress material and deco- 
ration are reduced to prices approximating their actual 
cost and compatible with the possibilities of a moder- 
ate allowance. The fortunate woman with happy in- 
tuitions and inspirations in designing, and with clever 
skill in materializing her designs, can revel now in 
a wardrobe that would dazzle the Queen of Sheba 
more than Solomon's glory, and all at comparatively 



LAIJ'S OF CORRECT DRESS 275 

small expense. Not that the unprofessional dressmaker 
shall attempt the swell street gown with its sweeping 
skirt and mysterious bodice, seamless and faultless with 
hidden fastenings and pompous sleeves, any more than 
a school girl might essay an epic poem, or a baby copy 
a Corot with a slate and pencil. The style, the fit, 
above all the indescribable something about the perfect 
street dress that we call "the air," in lieu of something 
more expressive, are, and must of necessity be, the 
work of the professional artist endowed from the Cre- 
ator with genius, and this genius sanctified, developed, 
and made perfect in long service. But the dainty house 
dress, the fascinating little house bodice of soft bright 
silk, the attractive evening toilet, all manner of luxuri- 
ous tea gowns, and those extremely pretty simple dress- 
es which are now worn, not only at the "tea" but all 
through the evening, unless the dinner be formal, all 
these the amateur modiste may make with no appre- 
hension. Their success depends upon their coloring, 
decoration, and material, and the leading motive in 
them all is simplicity — simplicity idealized to elegance 
by the use of rich material and rare ornamentation. 

An economist who must make a little mone}' do a 
great deal should choose plain w^oolens instead of those 
with figures, stripes, or bars, or the bordered pattern 
dresses that attract attention by their showy designs, 
and she should find the best and newest shades of the 
colors that are most becoming to her, or that will 



276 LA JVS OF CORRECT DRESS 

combine well with a color that has hitherto proved 
satisfactory. 

High colors, prominent stripes or figures are less 
genteel as well as less sensible than plain materials in 
quiet colors and exquisite quality. Brown in all its 
shades has been popularized in America as well as 
London, by the Princess of Wales, whose exquisite 
taste has realized its possibilities in her own beautiful 
toilets in this, her favorite color. Tan in countless 
tints and combinations with brown or green is much 
used, blue is well worn, gray is affected by the few to 
whom it is becoming, and a peculiar dull shade of 
green in combination with black is most striking of 
them all. 

A woman, whatever be "that state of life to which it 
has pleased God to call her," will find life a little bet- 
ter worth living if she provide herself first of all, not 
with a lot of gorgeousness hustled together b}^ a cheap 
dressmaker into a shoddy imitation of a rich reception 
or theatre gown, but a simple cheviot or serge simply 
made. The sham skirt is cut and fitted carefully, and the 
drapery or outer skirt, plainly hemmed, has a full back, 
laid in fan-like pleats, and a straight, scant, seamless 
front laid up in two or three circular folds about the 
hips if the wearer is slight, or simply pleated length- 
wise or gored away at the top to fit plainly if she is 
stout. This skirt may or may not be hooked up on 
the bodice. If it is hooked up on the bodice it 
should be plain and severe, and made either single 



LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 277 

or double breasted. Marketing or shopping,, tlie 
housewife is well dressed in the snug little gown that 
defies wind and weather, and the business woman is 
never so well, so comfortably, and so appropriately- 
gowned, whether she write or teach, heal the natives, 
or sell ribbons and bonbons, as in this exquisitely neat, 
serviceable dress. The next most important gown to 
the well-dressed woman in winter is a cloth handsomely 
made, as faultlessly fitted, as rich in material and 
decoration as her means will allow. All sorts of teas, 
receptions, matinees, even the theatre itself, every- 
thing except the solemn functions of a ceremonious 
dinner, a ball, or the opera, call for handsome cloth 
gowns. There are no limits to the gorgeousness involved 
in its decoration. Rich braidings and stitchings, 
splendid cloth-of-gold waistcoats and gauntlets, and 
costly fur bands and jet passementeries are considered 
quite the suitable accompaniment of cloth gowns. The 
sensible and economical woman avoids high-priced and 
conspicuous novelties in cloth, which are sure to look 
passed after a season. 

A dress that is entirely suitable to the occasion will 
last much longer before it looks old-fashioned than if 
it be worn at times and places for which it was not 
originall}' designed, and though more gowns may be 
required at the outset, they will last much longer and 
look much fresher to the end than if they were worn 
in season and out of season. Of course, when very 
strict economy is necessary, a woman who has the 



278 ZAIFS OF CORRECT DRESS 

instinct of dress will so arrange that almost every govv^n 
shall be "contrived a double debt to pay," and chosen 
so as to be suitable whenever it is worn. If she can 
only afford one evening dress she will choose it with 
reference to balls, dinners, and "at homes, _^ and her 
visiting gown will be neither too gorgeous nor too 
plain ; while in bonnets and hats she will, above 
all things, show her wit, and, to quote the old poem 
once more, prove "For every season she has dressing 
fit ; for winter, spring, and summer. " 

The fashion of buying all things ready-made has 
been a blessing in many ways, but it has deprived 
women of the necessity of thinking out their clothes for 
themselves, and investing them with some degree of 
their own personalities. The "esthetic set" were right 
when they set their faces against this custom, and 
declared that every woman's dress should be an expres- 
sion of herself; but the mania for full bodices and 
skimpy skirts, huge hats and little handkerchiefs 
defeated its object, for all the maidens and matrons of 
the esoteric coterie were arrayed in the same fashion, 
so that, while the individualit}' of their set was asserted 
energetically by their attire, their own personal entity 
was more disguised thereby than it would have been 
by the most French and elaborate of ready-made cos- 
tumes. A woman who has the instinct of dress, shows 
it when she buys a gown "off a peg" just as much as 
when she plans and arranges every detail of a costume 
after her own fancy. That a frock is pretty or quaint 



LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 279 

or fashionable is no reason that she should purchase 
it; her test of it is, "does it look like me?" and though 
she may somtimes take a new departure, some new 
freak of fashion, which is unlike anything she has 
worn, but that yet approves itself to her as likely to 
suit her, she has the wit to know whether it will really 
mold itself to her. A well-dressed woman always wills 
that her clothes shall be part of her, and utterly scorns 
the idea of being merely a dummy for the display of 
a Mr. Worth's last creation. 

CONSIDERED FROM THE POINT OF BEAUTY 

When one of "Ouida's" miraculous great ladies, who 
trail old laces on their balayeuses and quote polyglot 
scraps about most things under Heaven, says that, 
even if she were poor and reduced to wearing dimity 
and serge, she would still have her garments fashioned 
so that Giorgione or Gainsborough might delight in 
her, she speaks what sounds, and is good sense ; and 
yet there are many reasons which prevent women with 
slender purses from following out her idea. Even 
when they have a taste so perfect that, given money 
and time, they might eclipse most women in the grace 
and harmony and richness of their raiment, the "res 
angustadomi" means being careful and cumbered over 
many things. If a woman works for a living she is 
likely, at the present rate of pressure and stuggle, to 
be too weary to pay more than a fitful and careless 
attention to dress ; and the careful consideration of 
harmony and of suitableness of one garment to another 



28o LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 

is often pressed out of her mind by matters of more 
importance. Perhaps it ought to not to be so, but it 
is. The small refinements and thoughtfulnesses of 
dress which give it, as it were, its grace and wit, maybe 
cost little money, but much thought and care ; and so 
a woman who is keenly sensitive to beauty of raiment 
often shows little sign of the instinct, and is dreary, 
even if neat, in her attire ; she has so many other 
things of which to think that dress gets "crowded 
out." 

And yet it is a pity ; for to most women dress is a 
pleasure, and a right one : and when the feminine 
instinct is crushed or lacking in a woman, so that she 
does not care Itow she looks, it shows a want in her 
nature. We are not speaking of slovenly women — 
they are rightly an abomination in all eyes — but of the 
women who, from economy or carelessness, or want of 
time or taste, or from religious opinion, may be and 
most likely are neat, painfully neat, but whose gowns 
are dreary, dull, unfitted to the wearer, or possessed 
of no individuality whatever. 

DRESS FOR SLENDER WOMEN 

Few figures are considered perfect enough to be 
displayed in a plain untrimmed waist. The bust may 
be pretty, but if the chest is hollow, if the lines 
about the arm are flat, if the shoulder-bones are prom- 
inent, some fulness or drapery will be needed to cover 
these defects. If the model is spare and bony, shingle- 
breasted and slab-sided, then trimmings must be resorted 



LAWS OF CORRECT DRESS ' 281 

to, while on the other hand, a case of middle-age 
stoutness, while requiring trimming, will need an 
entirely different arrangement. A thin woman can be 
plumped up with folds variously shown in artistic drap- 
ery, surplice fronts and full effects. Lace, pleated 
or gathered chiffon, is also filling and a yoke-vest or 
bretelle made of fur, jetted or jewelled net, flowered 
silk, velvet, plush or chinchilla, will round out a thin, 
spare figure. Another trick of making slimness look 
plump is in the use of ribbon, braid or guipure, sewed 
in rows round the neck and collar or round the waist, 
from the corsage to the belt. To complete the descrip- 
tion, stitch the cuffs round also and increase the width 
b}' having the sleeves puffed at and below the shoulder. 
Suppose the woman we consider is slender and fair 
and young, for it is she who wears best the simple, 
pert gowns of her own manufacture. The middle-aged 
woman must aim for stylish and rich effects, the elderly 
woman must clothe age in elegance ; the smart young 
woman and the slight, fresh girl require only pretty col- 
ors, dainty materials, and simplicity. But this prett}^ 
woman will be as fair to the man who loves her as was 
the woman to whom Paris gave the golden apple, if 
she pours his coffee in the morning in a simple little 
waist made of a bit of pale, blue cashmere, a remnant 
of China silk, or perhaps the best of an old drapery of 
challie left of last summer's wardrobe. The main 
point will be to have the materials very soft, with the 
waist fulled on the shoulders and about the neck. Again 



282 LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 

this particular bodice may have a history. It may have 
been the remnant of an ecru surah gown that had 
done duty on many occasions before it was pieced out 
into this little morning waist which will convince one 
simple man that he has the prettiest wife in the state. 
But the dainty grace and becomingness of the bodice 
may consist in the broad, full frill of pale yellow chiffon 
that falls back softly from the open throat and the nar- 
row belt of dark brown velvet which accentuates the 
slenderness of the willowy waist. 

DRESS FOR STOUT WOMEN 

A stout woman can not wear well any of the fantas- 
tic seamless bodices, but should retain each seam decid- 
edly, with an extra side-form under the arm, if the 
waist measures more than twenty-six inches. Neither 
should the stout woman attempt long coats, or cir- 
cular trimming for the skirt, unless it be the narrow- 
est band of a darker color than the dress extending 
about the extreme edge of the skirt. 

No stout woman can afford to wear horizontal trim- 
ming or figured goods. All lines should run down. If 
she selects a fancy braid, narrow ribbon velvet orgaloon, 
let the design start at the neck or shoulder and extend 
down, graduating it to a point at the bottom of the belt. 
Strips of ribbon running from the under-arm to the 
front or back seam will tend to slope off the hips. Hip 
trimming of every sort must be avoided, but a pleating 
in the back or a narrow bow with long streamers will 
break the line where the waist and skirt meet. Long 



LA JVS OF CORRECT DRESS 283 

basques, sharply pointed back and front, should be 
selected by stout women at all seasons regardless of 
the changes of fashion. High collars and high puffed 
sleeves, which have a tendency to swallow up short 
thick necks should be left to the slim women, who, 
like the famous Annie Laurie, have swan-like throats. 
By making the sleeve easy, though not tight, and 
having it come well down over the hand, using verti- 
cal rows of braid, not too close together, in place of 
a cuff you narrow the arm b}^ lengthening it. Fleshy 
women can greatly reduce their size by wearing narrow- 
striped goods or any plain cloth in dark colors, not 
necessarily black. Figured and flowered patterns 
unless very, very small should be let entirely alone. 

Short jackets should never be worn by stout women, 
long close-fitted coats are their most becoming wrap. 
Shawls are essentially the most feminine of wraps, but 
women who have not sufficient height and a graceful 
carriage should never attempt to wear them. 

A woman with a large face should never wear a very 
small bonnet, and if it is too short avoid trimmings on 
the sides of a hat or bonnet as that tends to widen the 
outlines. Place the ornamentation on top in close 
upright lines. 

Stout women often have short, too plump feet, in 
which case, all ornamentation of bows or rosettes of 
ribbon on shoes or slippers should be avoided. They 
only make the foot more shapeless. They should never 
wear colored shoes and it is very graceless to accept 



284 ZAJVS OF CORRECT DRESS 

shoes too tight for the foot. For a very fat foot, the 
wearing of the size too long really adds, often, to the 
beauty of its outlines. 

INDIVIDUALITY IN DRESS 

There are some women who look loveliest in a riding 
habit, or cotton frock, or sailor's shirt; but with these, 
advancing years make it a more difficult task to dress 
suitably, and they are apt to drift into the short liair, 
wideawake hat, and pea-jacket style of attire ; whereas 
the women whom dainty and delicate prettiness suited 
in girlhood, take easily to more dignified and richer, if 
more sober, attire, as their youth turns into fuller 
maturity. And there is a beauty which demands a 
simplicity and severity of sentiment which any hint of 
coquetry or consciousness in dress seems to degrade 
or belittle, as a masquerade habit might do, and which 
is usually framed best in black or white, which enhances 
the austere purity of look and feature. It is impossi- 
ble to think of Shakespeare's Isabel as she was after 
the play ended, Duchess of Vienna in rabato and far- 
thingale, brocade and jewels ; the habit of a votaress 
of St. Clare seems the only fitting garb for that "thing 
enskied, ensainted," and aught else is as unfitting as 
a nun's or widow's garb would be to Congreve's bril- 
liant Millamant. As Dorothea says in "Middlemarch," 
"Souls have complexions, too." 

And the recognition of this fact is a leading part of 
the instinct of dress with women. The Vicar of Wake- 
field^ when he tells us that a suit of mourning lias 



LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 285 

transformed his coquette into a prude, and a new set of 
ribbons has given her younger sister more than ordin- 
ary vivacity, touches this neatly as he does the femi- 
nine adaptation of character to attire, when attire does 
not chance to suit the character, which may be studied 
at will at any fancy ball. How far a dress may aid 
in expression of personality, every actress knows, and 
a part that is well dressed seems half-way — at the 
entrance— to being well played. But to be well dressed 
on the stage by no means signifies being splendid, 
like Dinah in the ballad of the ill fated Villikins, "in 
gorgeous array," any more than it does in real life, 
and the overdressing prevalent among actresses at the 
present time is a crying sin against art, and one to 
which an actress worthy the name will not yield. 

Balzac makes an odd classification of colors as indices 
of character. "Women that wear black habitually are 
to be avoided," he says, "because they are suspicious, 
bad tempered, and jealous. Those who wear yellow 
and green are over quarrelsome, and those who affect 
white are coquettes. The gentle, thoughtful, pussy- 
cat sort of women like to clothe themselves in pink. 
Pearl gray is worn by women who think the world 
doesn't do the right thing by them, and lilac is chosen 
by beauties who have passed their prime." 

DRESS FOR RED HAIR 

It is difficult to class women with red hair into one 
division, as the shades of hair vary and the eyes 
accompanying it must be taken into consideration. 



286 LA JVS OF CORRECT DRESS 

When blue ej^es accompany red hair, colors must be 
worn that will neutralize the blue in the eyes, so as not 
to intensify the contrast between the eyes and hair. 
Consequently all blues must be avoided in such a case. 
Pale green, lavender and blueish purples must also be 
tabooed. Red haired people should never wear scarlet 
or other bright, decided reds, and the many shades of 
pink, both the rose and the violet pinks should be 
avoided. But at the same time they may wear claret 
color and dark rich maroons, as well as real plum color 
and its modification, amethyst. Green is one of the 
best colors for red haired women. As we have said 
before, not light green but dark invisible green, bot- 
tle-green, rich blue-green, olive-green and the many 
beautiful gray greens that our markets afford. 

Red hair, accompanied by dark gray eyes tending to 
brown, never looks better than when clothed in dark 
amber and browns tending to yellow, and for evening 
wear, such women may choose creamy white, pale 
amber and real gold color. 

When the owner of red hair is also fortunate enough 
to possess brown eyes, she may wear all the colors sug- 
gested for other eyes and add to them black which will 
be found becoming by day or gas-light. 

DRESS FOR BLONDE HAIR 

There are two t3^pes of blondes, differing not a little 
in many respects. The golden blonde haired woman 
with blue, green or brown eyes is much rarer than the 
blonde with light brown hair showing drab tints. These 



LA JVS OF CORRECT DRESS 287 

different types should dress as diverselj^ as would black- 
haired and blonde haired women. 

The golden haired blonde with blue eyes and the 
white transparent skin is delightful in delicate refined 
colors. She can but never should wear red or the yel- 
lows and the yellow browns. 

She ma}^ wear black and dark green but for the most 
part she should choose heliotrope, purples, lavender, 
lilac, grays, pale green, blue white and pale violet 
tinted pinks. These tints belong peculiarly to her, as 
no other type can adopt them half so well and, for 
this reason, they possess a peculiar elegance. 

The golden blonde with green or gray eyes should 
be delicate and evasive. She also should avoid all 
reds and yellowish browns, but she must as well 
discard purple, blue white, lavender and blue greens. 
Her best colors are cream and transpaient whites, all 
yellow and olive greens, all gray blues and blue grays, 
the turquoise and peacock blues and she may wear 
black not made up too heavily, or heliotrope and mauve. 

The golden blondes, with the rich full blood and the 
dark brown or hazel eyes, are among the rare and radi- 
ant women who may affect the gorgeous and almost 
barbaric in colorings. However, they must just as 
surely put away the leading tints and colors so delight- 
ful when worn by the preceding types. The lavenders 
and lilacs and blueish grays, the mauves and pale cool 
greens do not belong to them at all. They would be 
most uneffective in either. 



288 LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 

But they may don warm, flaming reds, rich yellows 
and red browns. The long list of turquoise blue, 
amber, cream white, purple, violet, fawn color, warm 
grays and greens are all theirs by right of always looking 
at their best in them. 

The fair haired blondes are the onl}^ variety that 
retain their blondeness with the passing years. They 
generally remain the same even when the years usually 
crowned by gray hair come, but the golden hair grows 
darker gradually up to thirty when it is difficult to 
distinguish its tawny brown locks from those of 
decided brunettes. 

Gradual changes in colors must consequently be 
made, leading to those adapted to darker haired women. 
This is a type of woman among the most admired, the 
golden tint retained b}' the brown shade is generally 
accompanied by an ardent, strong and vital constitu- 
tion, fine full e5^es and strong white teeth, as well as 
a clear warm unblemished complexion. 

DRESS FOR BROWN HAIR 

The brown haired woman with warm brown com- 
plexion and brown e}^es has a rival worthy of her, in her 
sister who while still brown haired has steel-gray eyes 
and a fair skin which generally shows considerable 
color when animated or enthxised. 

The first type may revel in all the rich, gorgeous 
reds and blues of color. She may wear amber and 
all the yellows, in brown and maroon but the pinks of 
delicate tones and all pale cold blues, greens and grays 



LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 289 

do not belong to her. If she wishes to dress quietly 
she may don browns (never black) and tans, but she 
will never look inelegant in the strongest contrasts of 
reds and yellows because they harmonize with her own 
warm tints. 

There is a rare type in this class in whose dark 
brown hair artists find purplish shadows ; she is accom- 
panied by a creamy white skin and she may wear rose 
pink and black. 

The chestnut haired woman with blue eyes may 
wear almost any color she fancies, if she avoids too 
pale greens and mauves. Pink will be found especially 
becoming and the deep true blues are her own property. 
Where with this hair the eyes are green or gray the 
colors must be chosen less at random. She must not 
wear dull spiritless colors nor too yellowish browns 
or greens. 

DRESS FOR BLACK HAIR 

True black hair with black eye is seldom encountered. 
However, when met with it is very beautiful generally, 
and is accompanied by a clear, pale complexion that 
looks well with most colors of wearing apparel. Where 
the complexion shows considerable color, warm grays 
with touches of red, as linings or tracings of ornamen- 
tation and finishing, are alwa3's becoming and black silk 
and velvet with white lace, dull gold oranaments or 
dull invisible reds are among their most effective col- 
ors. 

One of the most beautiful types of woman is that 
19 



290 LA IVS OF CORRECT DRESS 

where real blue eyes are found with black hair. She 
should omit yellows and reds from her catalogue of 
colors, but may wear blues, pinks, white, purples and 
black. She is the woman above all others who should 
be given diamonds and who may wear any quantity of 
them without appearing vulgar, especially if she be tall 
and slender. 

DRESS FOR GRAY HAIR 

There are many types of gray haired women, but 
there are two general classes under which they ma}^ be 
considered. They are the class of prematurely gray 
young women and those whose hair is quite legitimate 
and indicates an honorable old age. 

For the latter class there is nothing more becoming 
than black with ornamentations of either black or 
white laces. Real white hair is usually accompanied 
by black, dark brown, or dark gray eyes, as the blue 
eyed women grow gray very slowly. Consequently the 
colors we would suggest must be becoming to dark 
rather than light eyes. 

We would suggest dark greens in both olive and blue 
varieties, dark rich blues and purples, as well as very 
dark reds. There is a brown appoaching a fawn color 
that may be worn, but as a rule browns are not becom- 
ing to those with gray hair. 

The chief color that all gray haired women should 
absolutely avoid is gray. It can never be worn with 
a pleasing result by them. Neither can pale lilacs and 
greens or pale, evasive blues, be adopted with any 



LAWS OF CORRECT DRESS 291 

propriety. Creamy whites can sometimes be worn, as 
can white muslins and lawns in the Summer time. 

JEWELS 

Jewels are a legitimate adjunct to woman's dress. 
They should not be worn in an obtrusive manner, but 
they should be selected with design and with reference 
to the remainder of the dress. They should not be 
worn in a way to give the least sense of overloading, 
nor is there any good effect obtained by the use of a 
number of comparatively inexpensive ornaments. 

Sapphires, pearls, moonstones, mosaics and chalce- 
dony are the jewels the very fair, blue-eyed blondes 
should wear. 

Black haired women may wear gold ornaments and 
diamonds and another brunette looks best in creamv 
pearls. There are brown haired women who will find 
amethysts, amber, topaz, rubies and garnets their most 
becoming ornaments. The golden haired blonde's 
ornaments are first pearls, after which, if she is not 
superstitious, opals, then topaz, amethysts, turquoise, 
amber, and the lapis-lazuli. 

Gray haired women should limit their jewels to dia- 
monds and turquoise in settings where but little gold 
shows- 

GENERAL REMARKS 

Solid and plain colors have a greater richness than 
mixed shades. If combined tints are used, they should 
only be such as harmonize well, and in the full-length 
figure give a good personal effect. Probably more 



292 LA \VS OF CORRECT DRESS 

ladies err in getting good general effects than in an}^ 
other one particular. They have various garments, 
pretty enough, possibly, in themselves, 5^et which do 
not harmonize well together, either in material, color 
or cut, or possibly with their particular style of figure 
and shade of hair and complexion. For example, the 
skirt will have one style of trimming, the waist another, 
the bonnet may look exceedingly well with one suit, 
and be quite out of keeping with another. A short 
dumpy person will wear flounces, a tall slim one stripes, 
while some red-haired woman will fanc}' an exquisite 
shade of pink, when green or brov/n would have been 
much more becoming. 

No woman should make herself conspicious by wear- 
ing such articles of dress as are laughed at, possibly, 
certainly not worn by any other persons in the city or 
country in which she may belong. Manufacturers, 
dry goods dealers, milliners, and dressmakers, try 
to carry the day with a high hand. Yet there is alwa)'s 
some choice, and as, thanks to our civilized habits, a 
full-length mirror is obtainable by most ladies, given 
the resolution to make the most and best of themselves, 
the greater number of women can so study the art of 
dressing well, as to produce some excellent results. 

First of all, the woman who would be a successful 
dressmaker must cultivate her powers of observation 
in every way possible. She should be above all an 
observer of dress. 

She should strive to take in at a single glance and 



LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 293 

to remember accurately every feature of every costume 
she sees. The dress of every woman she meets should 
be to her a study of things to imitate or things to 
avoid, just as little Jennie Wren, the doll's dressmaker 
in Dickens' novel of "Our Mutual Friend," makes all 
the great ladies of London unconsciously "try on" for 
her. 

The theatre is a very good school for a modiste. 
Women of the stage usually have excellent ideas of 
dress, and not a few of our best toilet suggestions have 
been derived from them. An innate talent — it is not 
going too far to call it genius — for dress seems to be 
born, to a greater or less extent, in every French 
woman, and it finds its culmination in the French 
actress. But it is not alone for origination of new and 
beautiful ideas that credit in the matter of dress is 
due to the women of the stage. To their good sense 
and personal independence we owe the reformation and 
final extinction of many foolish fashions. The quiet 
dressmaker then, will do well to visit the theatre often. 

Every woman can modify, and arrange, and simplify, 
and that without becoming eitlier ultra or conspicuous. 
It will take time. That cannot be helped, yet possi- 
bly the saving in comfort and expense may fully com- 
pensate for the few hours spent in studying her own 
dress with the mirror before her and with the deter- 
mination to make the very best and most of herself. 

It is best to make your own individual style gov- 
ern your dress, although more frequently the style of 



294 LA WS OF CORRECT DRESS 

dress influences the manners and actions of the woman. 

When a woman dresses in a mannish fashion, with 
ulster or with jacket having convenient pockets, she 
is very apt to put her hands in her pockets and to tip 
her stiff Derby or sailor hat a trifle to one side. 

But when she is most interested in esthetic loose 
flowing dresses, with full lanky sleeves and trailing 
"yellery" skirts, her eyes and the poise of her head 
take on the languid, languishing roll and curve. 

But these eccentricities are only momentary ; they 
pass with a breath, and general rules of neatness, 
freshness and suitableness are the only ones leaving 
lasting influences on the mind and character. 

If we learn to seek beauty in these higher forms we 
can not but find our characters, or general individu- 
ality uplifted and improved by what we wean 

Let no one rob us of the beauty of dress, but let us 
seek it in the highest form. Some people have many 
possibilities of form and color, but most people must 
study and develop them by special treatment. 

A little woman who is small and without marked 
beauty of either face or form will look charmingly neat 
and fresh in light, cheap woolens and muslins while 
had she been rich and donned heavy dark velvets 
and satins she would always have appeared a tired, 
faded woman of little attractiveness. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

INCONGRUITIES CORRECT DRESS FOR THE MORNING COR- 
RECT DRESS FOR TEAS, MATINEES AND AFTERNOON RECEP- 
TIONS CORRECT DRESS FOR DINNERS CORRECT DRESS 

FOR LAWN PARTIES CORRECT DRESS FOR DRIVING AND 

COACHING CORRECT DRESS FOR WEDDINGS AND WED- 
DING ANNIVERSARIES CORRECT DRESS FOR DANCING PAR- 
TIES CORRECT DRESS FOR MOURNING — CORRECT DRESS 

FOR SERVANTS 

INCONGRUITIES 

Some women are said to have a genius for dress. 

That a certain woman knows just what to wear for 

every occasion, does not, we think, so much indicate 

that she possesses this knowledge through a special fac- 

ult}' as that she is experienced in society. Unless a 

woman has attended a fashionable dinner or two, how 

can she know what other women generally wear? The 

same is equally true of other entertainments,. There 

are certain arbitrary rules governing society with which 

only the initiated can be familiar. To be sure natural 

295 



296 THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

modesty and consideration for others may be possesed, 
and that goes far toward introducing oneself pleasantly 
and appropriately. 

We can not know what to wear without experience, 
but an appreciation of the fitness of things and good 
taste in colors may be instantaneous to some while not 
to others. Some women have a moral lack of taste 
and wear startling colors and look as though their 
clothes had been hurled at them by a heavy wind, 
while others will look as if their clothes were a part of 
themselves or at least had grown on them. 

However, a little attention to the study of costuming, 
together with as much study of herself before a full 
length mirror will teach a woman to avoid criminal 
acts in dress. We owe this study as a duty to our- 
selves, certainly, but there is also a debt we owe soci- 
ety, to dress well or at least inoffensivel}-. We can 
not depend upon those who make our hats, cloaks and 
dresses for us ; we must work it out for ourselves. 

Avoid conspicuous dress. Individuality in dress 
can not be too highly recommended, but never seek 
to gain a kind of reputation by the odd choice of attire 
or b}^ seizing upon the first caprices of fashion. Never 
go upon the street in a dress suited only for the ball- 
room. It is ridiculous to trail silks, velvets and laces 
in mud or dust. Preserve a general harmony in your 
costume. Don't wear diamonds and an expensive new 
hat with a worn, frayed street suit. Suppose 3'ou are 
invited to a quiet evening at a game of cards. Do not 



THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 297 

patch together some old silk and brocade in a careless 
iashion ; rather wear one of your perfectly made cloth 
visiting costumes. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR THE MORNING 

Propriety requires that a woman should be dressed 
in a cleanly, and becoming manner in the morning. 
If she has to cook her own and other's breakfasts, she 
should provide herself with clean, washable dresses 
which she can slip on hurriedly but which at the same 
time will look complete. 

If she is a tardy riser for only breakfast itself, she 
should do the same, and the best plan always is to 
leave the bed in ample time to wash and dress prop- 
erly for the entire morning. Otherwise neglect to 
take off this morning dress as soon as possible, is to 
expose one's self to embarrassments often very pain- 
ful and to the appearance of a want of cultivation. 
Moreover, it is well to impose upon yourself a tule to 
be dressed at some particular hour (the earliest possi- 
ble), since occupations will often present themselves 
to hinder your re-dressing for the day. Disorder of 
the toilet can only be excused when it occurs rarel)% 
or for a short time, — as in such cases it seems evidently 
owing to a temporary embarrassment ; but if it occurs 
daily, or constantly — if it seems the result of negli- 
gence and slovenliness — it is unpardonable, particu- 
larly in ladies, whose dress seems less designed for 
clothing than ornament. 

To suppose that great heat of weather will authorize 



298 THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

disorder of the toilet, and will permit you to go in 
slippers, or with your legs and arms bare, or to take 
nonchalant or improper attitudes, is an error of women 
with but little selfrespect and no regard for their friends 
who must remain in their company. Cold and rainy 
weather can not be made excuse for similar liberties. 

Above all other things never go upon the street, no 
matter how quiet and retired it may be in a neglige 
toilet, albeit it may be an elegant one. Morning calls 
upon even intimate friends will not warrant such a 
proceeding. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR TEAS, MATINEES AND AFTERNOON RECEP- 
TIONS 

Dressing for afternoon teas and lunches was at one 
time a matter of small consequence. The hostess 
received in an ordinary house dress and her guests 
wore their street or shopping gowns with their bonnets. 
However, where several ladies assist the hostess, now- 
adays, handsome reception dresses are worn and the 
gas is lighted to give an evening effect. There is no 
sight prettier to the eye than a young girl dressed in 
some light becoming dress of pink, yellow, lilac or 
blue presiding at a tea-table which is decorated in a 
harmonious color. The elder ladies, who are not now 
asked to preside and pour tea, wear dark gowns, while 
the ladies who receive are attired in dinner dress. 

In France and England were introduced for afternoon 
teas the luxurious garments yet known as "tea gowns". 
Silk, satin and cascades of costly laces were intro- 



THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 299 

duced for them. They were wonderfully becomingj 
but American women did not find them the proper 
thing for a gown in which to receive indiscriminacely. 
The tea gown is really a boudoir dress, although the 
handsomest materials are used for it. 

The afternoon reception differs but little, so far as 
dress is concerned from the afternoon tea. The refresh- 
ments are generally more elaborate and there are no 
pretty girls pouring tea. But the dresses of the hostess 
and the ladies assisting her are the same. Ladies who 
attend receptions have found that very heavy street- 
gowns are dangerous. They wear them into rooms 
heated sufficiently for the ladies in lighter garments, 
and when they come out a terrible cold is the result. 
Consequently as light a dress as possible is now worn 
under a street cloak. The latter is removed in the hall 
or some appointed convenient room and then the call 
is made as long as is desired. The hat or bonnet is 
retained and consequently the dress must correspond 
with that. 

In Washington society the afternoon reception is a 
marked feature of the cit}^ An afternoon reception in 
Washington is unlike a reception in any other cit}'. 
The ladies in official life receive every one who chooses 
to call, and you can attend in your travelling dress 
and are not expected to remove 3'our wraps or to be 
introduced to any body. Your name is announced to 
the hostess and nothing else formal is demanded. 

Washington is also about the only city in America 



300 THE ETIQUETTE OE DRESS 

that keeps up to-day the pleasant old custom of hold- 
ing rceptions on New Year's day. Much magnificence 
is permissible for these receptions both in dress and 
the decoration. It should in this regard be limited 
only by the purse of the receiver. However, for these 
receptions as well as for all others and for teas also, 
the hostess should study general effects. 

The dresses of the ladies receiving with her, as well 
as her own gown should be in pretty contrasting or 
harmoniously blending colors as regards each other, and 
also when considered with the furnishing and decora- 
tions of the rooms. 

The proper dress for matinees is something similar 
to a reception dress although generally it need not be 
quite so elaborate. 

If a lady is going to an ordinary theatrical perform- 
ance, a cloth street dress that is not too warm answers 
every purpose. But if it is an operatic matinee or a mus- 
ical or dramatic matinee given in some private house, 
a more delicate and pretty costume with a bonnet or 
hat to match should be worn. The same thing is 
demanded when she is, by invitation, one of a box- 
party at an ordinary theatre matinee. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR DINNERS 

Dinners have long been considered among the most 
important and stately of social fimctions in England 
and Continental countries and in America they are 
steadily growing into the same estimation. Americans 
tried to delude themselves into thinking they could "live 



THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 301 

without cooks," could "live without dining" but exper- 
iep.ce makes them false to such principles. 

Woman's dress for dinner has also been a matter of 
contention. An acknowledged authority in the social 
world says regarding this subject, "The fashion of 
wearing low-necked dresses at dinner has become so 
pronounced that the moralist begins to issue weekly 
essays against this revival as if it had never been done 
before. Our virtuous grandmothers would be aston- 
ished to hear that their ball-dresses, never cut high, 
were so immoral and indecent. The fact remains that a 
sleeveless gown, cut in a Pompadour form, is far more 
of a revelation of figure than a low-necked dinner- 
dress properly made. There is no line of the figure so 
dear to the artist as that one revealed from the nape of 
the neck to the shoulder. A beautiful back is the 
delight of the sculptor. No lady who understands the 
fine art of dress would ever have her gown cut too 
low : it is ugly, besides being immodest. The persons 
who bring discredit on fashion are those who misinter- 
pret it. The truly artistic modiste cuts a low necked 
dress to reveal the fine lines of the bacjs:, but it is 
never in France cut too low in front. The excessive 
heat of an American dining-room makes this dress very 
much more comfortable than the high dresses which 
were brought in several years ago, because a princess 
had a goitre which she wished to disguise. 

"No fulminations against fashion have ever effected 
reforms. We must take fashion as we find it, and strive 



302 THE E '1 'IQ UE TTE OE DRESS 

to mold dress to our style, not slavish!}^ adhering to, 
but respectfully following, the reigning mode, remem- 
bering that all writings and edicts against this sub- 
ruler of the world are like sunbeams falling on a stone 
wall. The sunbeams vanish, but the stone wall 
remains." 

The young married woman in every instance wears 
a light silken house dress cut square at the throat, and 
the young girls admitted to dinner wear dainty evening 
gowns with their hair dressed in the most becoming 
manner. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR LAWN PARTIES 

The acceptance of an invitation to a lawn or garden- 
party means, for people in cities, a trip by rail or 
some other public conveyance and one's dress must be 
arranged accordingly. 

The garden-party proper is alwa5's held entirely in 
the open air. In England the refreshments are served 
under a inarquee in the grounds, and in that inclement 
clime no one seems to think it a hardship if a shower 
of rain comes down, and ruins fine silks and beautiful 
bonnets. But in our fine sunshiny land we are very 
much afraid of rain, and we do not like to ruin our 
finery an}' more than we enjoy running the risks of 
colds, and their attendant unpleasantnesses. 

Consequentl}', the hostess generally receives in some 
large room looking out on the lawn, through low, 
accessible windows. The hostess, of course, imder 
such circumstances, wears a house dress. However, 



THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 303 

when the party is given entirely in the open air, she 
wears a bonnet or a becoming hat in receiving her 
guests. The lady guests invariably wear bonnets and 
keep them on indoors and out. Short light or silk 
dresses have been the sensible fashion hitherto, but 
longer skirts for the lawn creep in when trains are in 
fashion for other daytime functions. Indeed a long 
dress looks very pleasing under the trees on the grass. 

Where the entertainment takes on more of a tennis 
party order than a garden reception, the dress must be 
governed accordingly. If it is the latter, one must 
dress very handsomely, while if it is an affair just "to 
have a good time" and play tennis or archery, croquet 
or some such games, pretty flannel dresses made for 
the purpose are the proper gowns to wear. Round 
straw hats or flannel caps will be the proper head cov- 
ering. 

The matter of shoes is also an important one. For 
the reception, light kid shoes or walking boots maybe 
worn to correspond with the remainder of the costume, 
as where there is a possibility of dampness, the hos- 
tess will provide rugs on the ground. But tennis shoes 
or thick boots are required when )'ou expect to be 
exposed to the wear and tear of outdoor games. 

Costumes for picnics, excursions and trips for the 
day to the lake or seaside should be of a strong mate- 
rial, simply cut and of plain color. Serge, flannel and 
tweed are excellent. Never wear a wash dress for such 
trips, you may start out charming and fresh, but will 



304 THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

not remain so many hours, even on a sunshin}^ day. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR DRIVING AND COACHING 

Our grandmothers dressed in heavy broadcloth riding 
habits, when traveling in coaches we are told. The heat 
and distress must have been something awful, but they 
do not excite our pity more strongly than do our dear 
sisters who think they must drive in thin laces and 
gauzes, through which the sun is also uncomfortable. 

Of course a woman need not be so severely plain in 
her carriage or coaching attire, as when walking the 
street, but quiet elegance in color and design is abso- 
lutely demanded in both situations. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR WEDDINGS AND WEDDING ANNIVER- 
SARIES 

In Chapter XVII., while giving some other informa- 
tion the etiquette of wedding dresses has been rather 
thoroughly discussed. A 3'oung bride at a large wed- 
ding may be gorgeously arrayed in white satin, laces 
and orange flowers, and her bridesmaids may be almost 
as magnificent. In this, day weddings do not differ 
from evening weddings. For quiet weddings the bride 
dresses in a travelling dress and hat and departs for 
her mysterious wedding trip. 

A widow should never be accompanied b}^ brides- 
maids, nor wear a veil or orange-blossoms at her mar- 
riage. She should at church wear a colored silk and a 
bonnet, and should be attended by her father, brother, 
or some near friend. If married at home, the widow 



THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 305 

bride nia}'^ wear a light silk and be bonnetless, but she 
should not indulge in any of the signs of first bridal. 

The guests at weddings should always be dressed in 
as festive a manner as is consistent with the surround- 
ings. The respective mothers of the bride and groom 
should wear handsome silk or velvet dresses and the 
children of the families are always admitted to wed- 
dings. Their gay little dresses are often a marked 
special feature of the occasion. 

For weddings in families where a death has recently 
occurred, all friends, even the widowed mother, should 
lay aside their mourning for the ceremony, appearing 
in colors. It is considered unlucky and inappropriate 
to wear black at a wedding. In our country a widowed 
mother appears at her daughter's wedding in purple 
velvet or silk ; in England she wears deep cardinal red, 
which is considered, under these circumstances, to be 
mourning, or proper for a person who is in mourning. 
Dresses for wedding anniversaries need not be peculiar 
to the occasion. 

As to the dress of the bride of twenty-five years of 
wedded happiness, we should say, "Any color but 
black." There is an old superstition against connect- 
ing black with weddings. A silver gray, trimmed with 
steel and lace, has lately been used with success as 
an anniversary bridal dress. Still less should the dress 
be white ; that has become so canonized as the wed- 
ding dress of a virgin bride that it is not even proper 
for a widow to wear it on her second marriage. The 



3o6 THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

shades of rose-color, crimson, or those beautiful mod- 
ern combinations of velvet and brocade which suit so 
many matronly women, are appropriate silver-wedding 
dresses. 

However, any dark fabric in accordance with the 
position of the family in society will be just as appro- 
priate. It is a pretty idea at such receptions, espec- 
ially a golden wedding, for the bride to receive her 
friends arrayed in some article which she wore at her 
first wedding, if any remain. Sometimes a veil, a 
handkerchief, or a fan (scarcely ever the entire dress 
has lasted so long) is worn and adds to the significance 
of the occasion. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR DANCING PARTIES 

Dancing parties of^to-day are what were once termed 
balls, and they are the gayest of all gay social enter- 
tainments. Dinners call for handsome dressing, but a 
dancing reception demands it. Just as for dinners, 
however, the young and slender women wear light, 
diaphanous materials while the heavier and elder ones 
adopt velvets, brocades and stately satins. 

Trained dresses are always inconvenient in a ball- 
room but fashion often absolutely demands them. How- 
ever, when a young woman who dances can wear a short 
dress she should do so. It adds to her youthfulness, 
her lightness of step and to her general attractiveness. 

Older women, the married belles, and the young 
chaperons may always accept the trained dress as 
their privilege, but, at the same time, the length of 



THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 307 

the train should not be unduly extended. For the 
stately square dances trains are not much in the way, 
but to undertake the waltz in a long, heavy, velvet 
train requires the strength of more than the ordinary 
American woman. 

Jewels and flowers as ornaments are entirely proper 
in a ball room, although the intense heat soon withers 
the latter. We quote again an acknowledged authority 
who says : "For balls in this country, elderly women 
are not expected to go in low neck unless they wish 
to, so that the chaperon can wear a dress such as she 
would wear at a dinner — either a velvet or brocade, 
cut in Pompadour shape, with a profusion of beautiful 
lace. All her ornaments should match in character, 
and she should be as unlike her charge as possible. 
Young girls look best in light gossamer material, in 
tulle, crepe, or tarlatan, in pale light colors or in white, 
while a stout, elderly woman never looks so badly as in 
low-necked, light-colored silks or satins. Young women 
look well in natural flowers, elderly women in feathers 
and jeweled head-dresses." 

CORRECT DRESS FOR MOURNING 

Chapter XVI of this book gives an extended account 
of the preparation of mourning for different members 
of a family and necessarily much of the etiquette gov- 
erning mourning "is included. However, just here we 
will furnish a condensed resum6 of the entire question. 
This perhaps, will prove more valuable to our readers. 
For when death comes, he is always unexpected and 



3o8 THE ETIQUETTE OF DRESS 

a ready reference book, giving exactly and concisely 
just what is proper to provide will be a friend indeed. 

Widows' mourning is worn for two years in England 
and America; in France for one year and six weeks. 
It consists of woolen stuffs, which are lustreless and 
of crape. When mourning for a parent, children who 
are grown wear the same mourning for one year. 
Younger children's should never be continued more 
than six months. Mourning for a brother or sister, 
for a grandparent, step-mother or step-father is also for 
one year. In England this mourning lasts only three 
months. Mourning for children should be crape- 
trimmed dresses and last for but nine months. 

Mourning should be discarded by gradations. Black 
kid gloves are worn in first mourning but in six months, 
especially if it be summer, silk gloves may be worn. 
The crape on the dress is removed for the first stage, 
then trimmings of jet and lace are taken up, and grad- 
ually one drifts back into colors of all kinds, by way of 
the grays and their kindred. 

CORRECT DRESS FOR SERVANTS 

A neat-handed Phyllis in any family will always have 
at hand a clean gown, apron and cap, hanging hand)^ 
to slip on in an emergency. This is true where only 
one servant is kept and where a full retinue is at hand. 
Some girls show great tact in this matter of appearing 
neat at the right time, but many of them have to be 
taught by the mistress to have a clean cap and apron in 
readiness. The mistress usually furnishes these items of 



THE ETIQUETTE OE DRESS 309 

her maid's attire, and they should be the property of 
the mistress, and remain in the family through all 
changes ol servants. They can be bought at almost 
an}^ repositor)' conducted in the interest of charity or 
they can be made at home, and a dozen of them in a 
house greatly conduces to an improvement in the 
appearance of the servants. 

Servants should never wear woolen dresses when at 
work. Calico and chintz are good fabrics but seer- 
sucker ginghams wear and wash better, consequently are 
cheaper. They should be required to wear light shoes 
in the house and trained to step lightly. The above 
remarks apply particularly to house servants or to those 
who are about where they are seen constantly by mem- 
members of the household, as well as by the stranger 
who rings the bell. 

The cook, the laundress and the nurse-maid are inde- 
pendent houshold personages, where all of them are 
engaged. A woman who cooks, prepares meats and 
vegtables and is in the kitchen all day need only be 
required to dress neatly and allowed her own way other- 
wise. Cotton dresses and gingham aprons are however 
her best regalia. The woman who washes and irons 
is given equal latitude. She must not be allowed to 
think she can wear day after day aprons and dresses 
stiff with soap and the effects of dirty water, and cotton 
gowns are best for her also. The nursemaid is another 
important factor where she is a necessity. On page 
147 full information is given on this subject, and we 
can not devote further space to it at present. 



CHAPTER XXV 

TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 

No science, no art is without a certain language of 
its own, a language which must be mastered by the 
beginner. For example, terms used in cookery have to 
be learned by the novice ; also terms used in botany 
and chemistry, presenting the extra difficulty of being in 
a dead language ; and musical terms, which are chiefly 
Italian, cookery technicalities being French. To France, 
then, as the great leader in the civilizing arts of cookery 
and dress, do we turn for instruction in the alphabet of 
dressmaking terms. These terms should be acquired 
by beginners, for, although we endeavor to avoid 
French words as much as possible in this book, yet 
certain words have become Anglicised, and are accepted 
and understood by all workers. We may instance the 
word Revers as one of these terms, which, being almost 
untranslatable into English, is universally made use 
of by dressmakers, modistes, and drapers. In the fol- 
lowing alphabetical list we have given — ist, the exact 

or literal meaning of the word ; 2nd, the explanation 

310 



TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 311 

when necessary ; and 3rd, an example of the applica- 
tion, also when necessary. 

We do not pretend that this list includes all, or even 
one half, of the French terms used in dressmaking! for, 
as novelties are continually arising, so words are 
coined and become general in a short space of time ; 
but the words most usually employed are here. Some 
ladies wish that "dressmakers' language" could be "put 
into English," but technical terms must be used in 
describing the art of dressmaking as well as in describ- 
ing all other arts. 

LIST OF TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 

Agraffe. — A clasp; also applied to gimp fastenings. 

Appret — I. Finish; the dressing put into calicos, etc. 
Ex. — Percale sans appret^ undressed cambric. 2. 
Also the trimming at the back of a bonnet, either a 
lace lappet or ribbon bow, or any finish to a head- 
dress. 

Assemblage. — Tacking together the various portions of a* 
corsage for trying-on. 

Aumonie. Alms bag; a small bag hanging from the 

• waist. 

Baleine. — Whalebone. 

Bandeaux. — Bands ; applied also to bands of hair. 

Bas. — I. The lower edge. 2. Stockings. 

Basques. — Applied to the ends of a jacket or bodice fall- 
ing below the line of the waist. 

Biais. — I. Bias, on the cross. 2. Crossways. 

Bombe. — Rounded or puffed. 



312 TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 

Borde. — Round; edged with. 

Borde a cheval. — Edged with binding, of equal depth on 

both sides. 
Bottes. — Very thick walking boots. 
Bo/thies. — Boots ; applied chiefly to house boots. 
Bourre. — Wadded or stuffed ; a term often applied to 

quilted articles. 
Calotte. — Crown ; the crown of a cap or bonnet. 
Camisole. — A loose jacket ; applied to dressing and morn- 
ing jackets. 
Capitonne. — Drawn in like the seat of a sofa or chair; 

buttoned down. 
Capuchon. — A hood on a mantle. 
Casaque. — Corsage with loose, open fronts. 
Cascade. — A fall of lace ; generally used in speaking of 

lace that is made to flow, with zigzag bends, like a 

river. 
Ceinture. — Belt, waistband, or sash. 
Chaussure. — Boots and shoes. 
Chemise. — Shift : chemise de jour, day chemise ; chemise 

de nuit, night-dress ; chemise deliomme, a night-shirt. 
Chemisette. — Gauged or pleated material filling in the 

open front or neck of a bodice. 
Chiquete. — Pinked out. 
Clos. — Closed or fastened. 
Coiffeur. — Hairdresser. 

Coiffure. — A head-dress : manner of dressing the hair. 
Coive. — Bonnet lining. 
Confection, — A term applied to all kinds of made-up man- 



TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 313 

ties, cloaks, and jackets, and all outdoor garments. 

Coques. — Looped bows of ribbon. 

Cornet. — The cuffs of a sleeve opening like the large end 
of a trumpet, larger at the wrist than above. 

Corsage. — Bodice. 

Corset. — Stays. 

Costume. — Complete dress. 

Coulisse. — Small slipstitched band sewed on to the dress 
by slipstitches, to contain a tape or ribbon runner. 

Coquille. — Applied to draperies fallin^g in zigzag, shell 
folds. 

Crenele. — Crenelated ; cut in square scallops, like battle- 
ments. 

Dentelle. — Lace. 

De niello. — Scalloped ; pinked-out. 

Dents. — Scallops; these can be pointed or square. 

Deshabille. — Undress costume ; usually applied to elab- 
orated robes-de-chambre. 

Dessous. — Underneath. 

Dessiis. — Above. 

Devant. — Front. 

Dos. — Back. 

Echarpe. — A scarf ; applied also to scarfs tied round the 
hat. 

Ecru. — The color of raw silk. 

Effile. — Fringe, generally a narrow one. 

Encolure. — The opening at the neck of a dress, or the 
arm hole 

En biais. — On the cross. 



314 TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 

En chale. — Resembling a shawl ; applied to bodices and 

drapery. 
En coeur. — Heart or V-shaped ; applied to bodices. 
En coquille. — Folded backwards and forwards in zigzags. 

Shell points. 
En echelle. — Like a ladder. 
En eventail. — Like a fan. 

En tablier. — To look like or imitate a tablier. 

r 

Envers. — The wrong side. 

En- fouf-cas. —Silk sunshade, like a small umbrella, to 
ward off the sun or rain. 

Epais. — Thick. 

Epaissseur. — Thickness. 

Fendu. — Slashed, cut open; applied to jacket-basques, 
sleeves, etc. 

Fichu. — A half-square, cut from corner to corner ; any 
small covering for the shoulders. 

Flots. — Quantities of lace or ribbon so arranged as to 
fall over each other like waves. Ex. — Flots de den- 
telle, rows of gathered lace falling one over the other. 

Frange guillee. — A rather deep fringe, with an open head- 
ing, like network. 

Frances. — Gathers; Fronce' gathered. 

Gilet. — An undervest of a dress. 

Glace. — Shot, materials with cross threads of two or 
more colors. 

Jarretiere. — Garter. 

Jupe. — Skirt. 

Jupon. — Petticoat. 



TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 315 

Lainage. — Woolen materials. 

Lingerie. — Collars and cuffs, made either of linen, cam- 
bric, or muslin and lace ; also underclothing. 

Lisere. — A narrow edging or binding. 

Lisiere. — Selvage ; applied also to the colored edges of 
silks. 

Mane he. — Sleeve. 

Manchette. — Cuff. 

Manteau. — Cloak. 

Matinee. — Elegant, loose bodice for morning wear. 

Moire. — Watered. 

Mule. — A heeless slipper. 

Noeud. — A bow or knot. 

None. — Tied or knotted. 

Omhrelle. — Parasol. 

Packing. — A coarse, loose canvas. 

Pardessus. — Jacket, mantle, coat; any garment worn 
over the toilette. 

Parement. — Cuff on the outside of a sleeve. 

Parure. — A set of collars and cuffs ; applied also to a 
set of jewellery, passementerie ornaments, etc. 

Passant. — Piping without a cord. 

Passe. — The brim of a chapeau or cap. 

Passementerie. — Embroidered trimming of silk cord and 
beads. 

Peignoir. — Dressing gown ; dressing jacket. 

Pekin. — Striped. 

Pelerine. — A small mantle rounded like a cape. 

Petti cote. — Side-piece. 



3i6 TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 

Placket-openifig. — The opening of a skirt at the ends of 

the waistband. 
Plastron. — Breast-piece; a piece put on the front of a 
dress bodice, generally of a different color or material. 
^//.— Fold. 
Pli Rond. — Box-pleat. 
T'/w— Folds. 
Plisse. — Pleating. 

Polonaise. — Tunic in one with the bodice. 
Ras-terre. — Just touching the ground. 
Redingote. — Polonaise or long coat, with long straight 

basques open in front. 
Retaper. — To do up a bonnet or hat. (Milliner's term 

only). 
Robe. — Dress. 

Robe-de-chambre. — Dressing or morning gown. 
Rouleaute. — Trimmed with rolled bias bands. 
Rouleaux. — Rolled trimming made of crossway strips of 

material. 
Ruches. — Gathered or pleated trimmings; called ruches 

here. 
Saut-de-lit. — Dressing-gown. 
Simuler. — Simulate ; to imitate. 
Soulier. — Shoe. 
Taille. — Waist or figure. 

Tablicr. — Front of tunic, covering the skirt like an apron. 
Toilette. — A dress or costume. 
Top-sewing. — Overcasting closely. 
Tournure. — A bustle ; also the general appearance of a 



TERMS USED IN DRESSMAKING 317 

a dress, costume or person. Ex. — Tourntire distin- 

guee. Lady-like appearance. 
Traine.- — A train. A traine. — With a train. 
Tresse. — Braid. 
Tunique. — Tunic. 
Tuyaux. — Fluted pleatings. 
Tuyaux d'orgue. — Wide flutings, like the pipes of an 

organ. 
Velours. — Velvet. 
VeloutCs — Soft, like velvet. 
F(?/^w^;//. — Garment, mantle. 
Volant, — Flounce or frill. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
TO CUT A BASQUE PATTERN BY MOLDING 

THE FRONT BACK AND SIDE-BODIES EMBELLISHMENTS — 

THE SLEEVE 

THE FRONT 

The system of molding the figure by the pattern, or 
rather, taking a correct cast of it in muslin or paper, 
is a totally different system from cutting the pattern 
from precise measurements, and is on the whole, quite 
as successful, as few human figures are perfect, or are 
even exactly alike on both sides. 

The method of molding, as we intend to show it, is 
simple and practical, and does not call for the mathe- 
matical aptitude necessary in so many systems taught 
to-day. Of course, patterns cut with mathematical 
precision are excellent, but it is not every lady who 
possesses enough intelligence to grasp the system, 
or accuracy enough to work it out successfully. As 
time is money, it is necessary that what has to be 
learned should be learned well and quickly; so it is 

our duty to smooth difficulties rapidly and entirely. 

.318 



TO CUT A PATTERN BY MOLDING 319 

Dressmaking to-day is not a trade, it is an art, for 
every woman should be molded by her corsage. As 
no two busts are exactly the same it is impossible to 
give a scale of proportion. The corsage must be molded 
on the figure which is to wear it. 

We commence with the front. It is a properly shaped 
corsage with one dart. We have purposely chosen a 
slightly fanciful pattern to show that fanciful details 
set to perfection if molded on the figure with the gen- 
eral outlines of the corsage. 

For half of the basque take three-quarters of a yard 
of strong m.uslin or silesia, and cut off the two sel- 
vages. Pin this muslin on the bust to be molded in 
the following manner : Place the one selvage down 
the centre of the front, keeping the material as much 
on the straight as is consistent with the natural wavy 
line of the figure. Place the first pin at the collar, 
leaving 10 inches of muslin above, and pin the muslin 
smoothly in place on the widest part of the bust. Pin 
the muslin round the collar to the shoulder-seam, cut- 
ting long rents in the muslin above to let it fall in 
place, taking care that the muslin forms no pleat or 
wrinkles. Pin it round the armhole of the front in the 
same manner, and lastly pin it along the shoulder- 
seam. Now the upper part of the muslin front should 
lie smooth, without wrinkle or pleat, on the figure. 

The lower half of the front is a little more difficult. 
Pin the dart, taking care that the line nearest the front 
is on the straight of the muslin. In a corsage with 



320 TO CUT A PATTERN BY MOLDING 

two darts you will find that the second will be the 
longer, and will take up the most material in any 
average normal muslin front thus molded to the figure. 
The object is to keep the seam under the arm as much 
on the cross of the material as is consistent with mak- 
ing the muslin lie perfectl)' smooth and flat. The 
front is now finished, and the most difficult part of the 
molding done. 

BACK AND SIDE-BODIES 

Next commence the back. Pin the muslin on the 
figure, keeping it on the straight as much as possible 
in the centre of the back, and leaving about three 
inches of muslin above the neck so that the shoulder 
can be formed. Pleat over the edge of the muslin to 
exactly correspond with the curved line in the centre 
of the back. Pin the muslin smoothl}' across the back 
without straining it or putting it out of the straight, 
outlining the curved side which joins the side piece of 
the back, and the hollow for the sleeve. When this 
is cut to shape enough to let the muslin lie flat, the 
true shape being indicated by pleating over and indent- 
ing the muslin with the nail, mark out carefullj' the 
shoulder-seam, which must lie smooth but easy. Never 
mind if it looks too straight or too sloping ; shoulders 
differ much, and the pattern should fit them well. 
When all is marked and roughly cut, unpin the mus- 
lin and cut out the back smoothly according to the 
marks and pins on the muslin. 

The side-bodies are done in the same way. The 



rO CUT A PATTERN BY MOLDING 321 

side-bod}' of the back must have the material on the 
straight, judging by the eye, for both sides are much 
on the bias when cut ; do not push your muslin to coin- 
cided with the shape ; keep it on the straight, letting 
the lower part of the basque turn as much to one side 
and the upper part near the sleeve as much to the other 
as is necessary. Always be careful in cutting patterns 
to leave sufficient length below the waist line, or the 
whole fit will be spoiled. It will be noticed that the 
side adjoining the side-body of the front is less on the 
bias than that to be sewed into the back. 

As to the side-body of the front, when the muslin 
is pinned on the figure, the side joining the front must 
be as much as possible on the straight ; proceed as for 
the rest of the pattern, leaving the basque very easy and 
much on the bias. 

EMBELLISHMENTS 

For embellishments the molded system is far superior 
to measurements. Revers and collars, for example, 
never fit well unless they are molded on the figure. 
Our good mantle makers mold for revers in soft paper 
or muslin on the figure of the future wearer, and then 
send the pattern to the furrier to be exactly copied in 
fur. 

Collars, whether standing or revers, should always be 
molded either in strong muslin or strong but supple 
paper. There is no need to mold the whole collar, 
half sufficing, commencing at the middle of the back, 



322 TO CUT A PATTERN BY MOLDING 

that being the highest point and therefore nearest the 
upper edge of your muslin or paper. 

The standing collar shown on page 83 is a very easy 
one to mold. Pin your muslin in place in the centre of 
the back, making the selvage the central line, then 
pin it round the neck, slitting up the material below 
to let the muslin lie smoothly — as you form the rounded 
line at the neck, pleating the material with your nail 
into every curve, slitting the muslin beyond your collar 
wherever any pull is observed. 

THE SLEEVE 

When we come to the sleeve we find molding inferior 
to good measurements. True, one can mold a perfectly 
fitting sleeve, too perfectly we ought to say, for it 
occasionally fits too perfectly to allow the muscles fair 
play. Unless the sleeve be molded on a very well 
shaped arm, after the molding is completed it is advisa- 
ble to bring a few simple measurements into use, to see 
if we have allowed enough room across the elbow, un- 
der the arm, etc. 

Molding is excellent for finding the correct place of 
the elbow (so variable in different arms), also the exact 
curve of the upper edge to fit into the shoulder. Com- 
mence with the upper of the sleeve, along the line of 
the elbow, cut this in shape, and pin the muslin 
smoothly across to the inner seam, catting rents beyond 
this upper portion in the muslin to allow the curved 
inner seam to lie eas}'. Next fit the muslin into the 
shoulder to get the rounded curve, which will be found 



TO cur A PATTERN BY MOLDiyG 323 

a little difficult, as the sleeve on which )'Ou are mold- 
ing is gathered into the shoulder. Take points in the 
curve, about two inches apart, and pleat over the mus- 
lin between these points to form a straight line. You 
will be able to round off and correct the tiny angles 
thus produced when the molding is finished, and to 
form a firm sweeping curve. 

The under of the arm is done in the same way, but 
5^ou will have to cut rents beyond the under part in 
the muslin to make the line under the arm lie easy. 
Outward curves do not require this, but inward curves 
need these rents to avoid pulling and straining. This 
completes the sleeve. 

The molding is now done. To complete the pattern 
compare the seams one with another where they are 
to fit, and lightlj^ shave off any excrescence and over- 
plus. See that the scissors cut smooth lines, undis- 
figured by jags and notches, for when using the pat- 
tern you Avill forget whether the outside or the inside 
of the jags is your correct pattern, and every fragment 
of an inch tells in the fit. The best means of making 
the seams quite even is to lay together each two sides, 
which are to be eventually seamed together, edge to 
edge, and shave off lightly any irregularities at one and 
the same time. 

For a very stout figure three side-pieces are often 
found requisite in place of two. They must be molded 
in the way described above, but the space between the 
backs and fronts must be divided in three, so that at 



324 TO CUT A PATTERN BY MOLDING 

the waist the three side-pieces measure almost the 
same across. 

In the case of striped materials, which are so diffi- 
cult to cut well, especially when the stripes are wide 
it is as well to avoid the three side-pieces. It is easy 
to arrange the stripes symmetrically at the back, but 
the side pieces puzzle the cleverest and it is next to 
impossible to avoid in them the ugly, cut-up appear- 
ance of innumerable stripes abruptly commencing and 
terminating with no real beginning and no real end. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
CUTTING-OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

INTRODUCTION MEASUREMENTS HOW TO TAKE MEAS- 
URES VERIFICATION OF THE MEASUREMENTS VARIABLE 

MEASUREMENTS DRAFT OF PATTERN OF A DRESS 

VERIFICATION OF THE PATTERNS FOR A BODY PATTERN 

FOR BASQUE DRESSING GOWN LOW, ROUND WAIST — 

TRANSPOSING MEASUREMENTS DRAWERS FOR A WOMAN 

DRAWERS FOR A GIRL PRINCESS APRON APRON WITH 

STRAPS — APRON FOR CHILD 

I 
INTRODUCTION 

The making up of a dress or garment of any kind con- 
sists in joining together, by means of seams, several 
different detached pieces. To make the body of a gown 
it is a good plan, before joining such pieces together, to 
cut them out on paper patterns drafted by oneself, 
and which have been drawn according to measurements 
taken in the manner we shall hereafter indicate. 

This method is one taken from the standard French 

system, devised b}' Mdlle. Grand'homme. 

325 



326 CUTTING OUT BY MEASURMENT 

In order to facilitate the drafting of such patterns, 
it has been found that the best plan is to trace their 
outlines on rectangular diagrams, excluding every use- 
less detail. Thus, for example, to draft the pattern of 
a sleeve, a rectangular diagram — ABCD— should be 
made, in which, following the measurements indicated, 
the pattern of this part ot the dress should then be 
drawn. 

When such a pattern is correctly drafted, nothing 
remains to be done but to cut it out. The attainment 
of this object, therefore, is the aim of the following 
method of cutting-out. 

If the person who is to be measured wears a dress 
with a round waist, the lengths of the front and back 
can be easily taken ; on every other kind of dress these 
are liable to be inexact. It will be well, consequently, 
in the latter case, in order to facilitate the task, to run 
a ribbon round the waist of the person, which wil 
replace a waistband, and enable the precise measure- 
ments of the front, back, and under part of the arm 
to be correctly taken. 

II 

MEASUREMENTS 

To apply this method of cutting-out, two kinds of 
measurements are indispensable : 

1. Variable measures. 

2. Fixed measures. 

I. VARIABLE MEASURES 

Variable measures aie so named, because they vary 



CUTTING OUT BY ME A S UREMENT 327 

according to the figure of each person : they are twelve 
in number : 

1. Length of the body. 

2. Width of the shoulders, taken in front. 

3. Width of the chest. 

4. Length underneath the arm. 

5. Round of the waist. 

6. Length of the back. 

7. Width of the back. {This measure must be taken 

twice. ) 

8. Testing measure. 

9. Length of arm. {This measure must also be 
taken twice: the length on the inner, and the length on the 
outer side of the arm. ) 

10. Size round the arm. 

11. Size round the wrist. 

12. Length of the skirt. {This measure must be taken 
three times: in frotit, on the hip and at the back.) 

These measures serve to form the diagrams of the 
front, back, and side-piece, or additional piece of the 
back, also of the sleeve and skirt. 

Every length remains in its entiret)', but every width 
is divided into two, except the fifth measure, — the 
round of the waist, — which is subdivided into four. 

2. FIXED MEASURES 

Fixed measures are conventional measures which 
serve for the patterns of every figure; they never vary 
for a woman's figure, and indicate how many inches or 
eighths of inches of the material must be cut away for 



328 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



the round of the neck and slope of the shoulder ; they 
also show the distance required between the darts, and 
thus serve for the drafting of patterns. 

Ill 

HOW TO TAKE MEASURES 

With the view of facilitating to learners the proper 
manner of measuring, we first give two figures {the front, 
back, and part of the skirt), on which the inch-tape or 
measure is shown by small straight lines, and is placed 
exactly as it should be on the living figure. Attached 
to each of these measurements taken upon the person, 
a numeral is found corresponding to the foregoing 
measures. 

J 




I. Length of the Body. — From the shoulder-seam, at 
the neck, to the middle of the front, below the waist. 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 329 

2. Width of Shoulders, taken in front. — From the 
shoulder-seam, at the right armhole, to the shoulder- 
seam at the left armhole. 

3. Width of Chest. — From the seam under the arm, at 
the right armhole, to the seam under the arm at the 
left armhole. 

4. Length under Arm. — From the seam under the arm, 
at the armhole, to the hip. 



6 




5. Round of Waist. — The tape inch-measure must be 
passed round the waist of the person, and slightly 
tightened. 

6. Length of Back. — From the shoulder-seam, at the 
neck, to the waist. 



330 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

7. Width of Back. — This measure must be taken 

twice : 

1. From the shoulder seam, at the right armhole, 

to the shoulder-seam at the left armhole. 

2. From the seam underneath the arm, at the 
right armhole, to the seam underneath the arm 
at the left armhole. 

8. Testing Meastire, or total size of the person. This 
measure is taken by passing the tape underneath both 
arms. 

9. Length of Arm. This measure must be taken twice : 

1, From the shoulder-seam, at the armhole, to 
the wrist, bending the arm at same time. This 
gives the outer length of the arm. 

2. From the top of the inner seam of the sleeve • 
to the wrist, stretching out the arm at same 
time. This gives the in7ier le7igth of the arm. 

10. Roicnd of Arm. — Pass the tape round the arm, at 
the armhole, and do not tighten it. 

11. Round of Wrist. — Pass the tape very carefully 
round the wrist, taking into calculation the smallest 
subdivision of an inch. 

12. Length of Skirt. This measure must be taken three 
times : 

1. In front. 

2. On the hip*. 

3. At the back. 

It is always necessary to count an inch and two- 
eighths more than the inches given, for the material 



CUTTING OUT BY ME A S UREMENT 3 3 1 

once cut, shrinks — cloth, velvet, and merino alone 

excepted. 

IV 

VERIFICATION OF THE MEASUREMENTS 

The measurements when taken must be tested. 

I. The second measure — width of shoulders, taken 
in front — and the seventh measure — first width of back, 
— being compared, ought to give the exact difference 
of 2^ inches. If 1^% be not found, the width of should- 
ers, taken in front, must be diminished or added to ; 
but nothing must be changed in the first width of back. 
The number of 2^^ is required for the shape of the neck. 
It very often happens that the width of the shoulders 
gives an excess of 5^ inches, which indicates that the 
shoulder-seams in the dress of the person who is to be 
measured, are thrown unusually far towards the back. 
If such a dress is to be copied, 

1. The subtraction must give a difference of 4^. 

2. The use of the variable measure, — the size 
round the wrist, — must be changed. 

3. For the fixed measures which form the slope of 
the shoulders in front of the dress and at the 
back, see Section XII. (Transposing of the 
Measures). 

4. Add together the third measure, — width of chest 
— and the seventh measure, — second width of 
back— and then compare the total obtained with 
the testing measure. 

Two cases may occur : 



332 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

1. The testing measure may be less than 39J4^ 
inches. 

2. It may be more than 39^ inches. 

1. If the testing measure be not fully 39^ inches, 
it ought to be i^ inch more than the adding-up of 
the two measures, width of chest and second width of 
back; but if the difference exceed i^ inch, it will be 
necessary to diminish both measures in equal propor- 
tions. 

The difference of i^^ inch is peculiar to the figure 
of a child ; in that of a woman it may be less than if^. 

2. If the testing measure attains or exceeds 39j^ 
inches, the adding-up ought to produce the same num- 
ber exactly. 

V 

VARIABLE MEASURES 

(Used as Supplementary to the Fixed Measures) 
The second measure, — width of shoulders — and the 
seventh measure, — first width of back — when com- 
pared, give the differences 7.Y% inches {fixed measta-e). 

The eighth measure — the testing measure — serves 
two purposes : 

I. It gives the exact size of the person, and i^ 
inch, {fixed measure), is allowed when the testing 
measure has not reached 39^^ inches. 
2. Having joined the front, the side piece, and the 
back together, it is necessary then to find from 
the middle of the front to the middle of the back, 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 333 

in a line with the armholes, half the testing 
measure, plus seven-eights {^fixed measure ). 
Should more be found, then, whatever is over 
and above must be taken off from the armhole 
at the side-piece of back, gradually to the bottom 
of the pattern. 
The fifth measure — round of waist — is used with the 
fixed measure ; when the number of eighths which 
should form the darts has been ascertained, then the 
fourth part of round of waist must be taken, plus three- 
eighths infixed measure'). The number obtained will 
give the measure of the body round the waist, with the 
darts closed ; what is over and above will serve to form 
the darts. 

Note. — When three-eighths have been taken off from 
the side-piece of the back, seven-eighths, instead of 
three-eights, -must be added to the round of waist, for 
the darts. 

The tenth measure — round of arm — is divided into 
two. 

The eleventh measure — round of wrist — gives — 

1. The round of wrist, which is a measure that can 
not be divided. 

2. The number of eighths for the front portion of 
the armhole. 

Whenever the back of the body contains a side-piece 
then 2^ inches must be deducted from the number 
given by the round of wrist ; the remainder serves for 
the back portion of the armhole, which is finished by 



334 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

the side-piece, consisting at the armhole of i^ inch 
(^fixed measure). If the back of the body be gathered, 
or has a straight seam in the middle, then i^ inch 
must be deducted from the number given b}^ the round 
of wrist, and the armhole is drafted in its entirety. 

VI 

VARIABLE MEASURES 

(Not forming Rectangular Diagrams). 

1. The second measure — width of shoulders, taken 
in front. 

2. The seventh measure — second width of back — is 
never marked on a diagram when the back of the dress 
is formed by the aid of a side-piece. 

3. The testing measure. 

4. The inner length of arm. 

VII 

, DRAFT OF PATTERN OF A DRESS 

To make a woman's dress, it is necessary to draft 
the patterns of — 

1. The front. 

2. The back. 

3. The side-piece of back. 

4. The sleeve. 

5. The skirt. 

I. DRAFT OF THE FRONT 

To form the diagram of the front, take — 
Length of waist {length of diagraDi). 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 335 



Half-width of chest {ividth of diagratn). 

Mark ABCD at the four corners. 

Noie. — These letters, in general, serve as starting 
points for the fixeJ measures. 

Slof>e of Neck. — This diagram ABCD being formed ; 
from A to B, mark by a dot, 2^ inches ; from A to C, 
3^ inches, and join both dots by a curved line, which 
will form the slope of the neck. 

Slope of Shoulder. — To form 
the slope of shoulder, it is nec- 
essary : I. To take half the 
width of the shoulders from 
dot 3^, at slope of neck ; then, 
to measure the number obtained 
horizontally, indicating it by a 
dot. 2, From line AB to meas- 
C" 7^ " ^" '0 ure verticall}^ 3^ inches {fixed 

measure), in the direction of the dot indicated by the 
width of shoulders. This measure gives the slope 
required for the shoulder-seam. Join by a slightly 
curved line, dot 2^ to dot 3^, to form the slope of 
the shoulder. 

Armhole. — Take the round of wrist, and from dot 3^^ 
(slope of shoulder), measure the length obtained ver- 
tically, carrying it at same time to line BD, and indi- 
cating it by a horizontal line. From this line towards 
B measure three-eighths, and join it by an oblique 
line to the point thus obtained ; then join this point 
to dot 3^, — the slope of shoulder. 




336 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

Darts — To form the darts, go down ifs inches below 
the armhole, and draw a dotted line horizontally, 
which will indicate the height of the darts. From the 
line AC (middle of the body), on the dotted line, 
marked 3;^ inches for the first dart; from dot 3)^, 
mark 2^^ for the second dart. From angle C to angle 
D take 1 54 inch ; join dot 3^ to dot i^^ by an oblique 
line. To find out the nvmiber of eighths each dart 
should contain, take the fourth part of the round of 
waist, plus Y%{fixed measure) ; carry the length obtained 
from C to D, and make a dot. Whatever exceeds the 
diagram at CD gives the width of the darts ; divide 
this width in two for each of the two darts. Between 
the darts there should be a space of seven-eighths ; 
join dot y% to dot 2^ and dot 2^ to half the excess 
marked on line CD, to form the second dart. 

2. DRAFT OF THE BACK 

To form the diagram of the back, take — 
Length of back {length of the diagravi). 
Half the first width of back {width of the diagravi). 
Mark ABCD. 

Slope of the Neck — The diagram ABCD being formed, 
mark from A to B by a dot, i|4^ inch; from A to C, 
^ inch; join these two points by an oblique line, which 
will form the slope of the neck. 

Slope of the Shoulder — From B to D measure 4 inches, 
and make a dot; join by an oblique line, dot 4 to dot 
\Y\, to form the slope of the shoulder. 



C U TIDING OUT BY ME A S UREMENT 337 




ArmJwle. — Take the round of 
wrist less 2^ inches. From dot 4 
measure vertical!)' the difference 
obtained, and make a dot. Return 
inside of the diagram ^ infixed 
measure), and join dot 4 to dot ^. 
From C to D, mark yi {fixed meas- 
ure), and join, by a curve, dot 1/^ of 
the armhole to dot % of the angle 



Note. — If the back of the dress be gathered, only 
i^ is to be deducted from the size of wrist; and in 
such a case the armhole must be drafted in its entirety. 

The same remark applies to a cape. 

3. SIDEPIECE OF BACK 

To form the diagram of the side- 
piece of back, take — 

Length of the inner side of arm, 
plus ly^ {fixed measure) height of 
diagram. 

Fourth of the round of waist, 
less three-eighths {fixed measure) width of diagram. 
Mark ABCD. 
The diagram ABCD being formed, from B to A 
mark \){ {fixed measure); from B to D ij^^ {fixed meas- 
ure). Join these two dots by a curve. From D to C 
mark ^ {fixed measure). Join i^ of the line BD to 
dot yk on the line DC by an oblique line. From C 




338 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



towards A mark i^, which join by a curved line to 
dot i^ on the line BA. 

4. DRAFT OF SLEEVE 

To form the diagram of the sleeve, take — 

The outer length of the arm (height of the dia- 
gram). 
Half size round the arm (width of diagram). 
Mark ABCD. 

The diagram ABCD being 
formed, from A towards C, mark 
iy% inches (fixed measure). Draw 
a curved line ending at i^ from 
angle B, to form the armhole. 
From C towards A, mark i^ 
inch (fixed measure). Between 
the dots 3^ and i^, ought to be 
found the number of eighths giv- 
en by the variable measure, — the 
inner length of the arm ; take the 
half of that number and mark 
it by a dot. At this dot return within the diagram 
i^ ; join by a curve the dots 3^^, \}^, and i^, which 
will form the inner seam of the sleeve. From C 
towards D, mark 4^ inches (fixed measure). Join 
dot \y% to dot 4^ by an oblique line (the bottom of 
the sleeve). To indicate the position of the elbow, 
take half the outer length of the arm. From angle D 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 339 



toward angle B, mark the number of eighths obtained ; 
join this dot to dot 4^. 

5. DRAFT OF PATTERN OF A SKIRT 

A skirt consists of many pieces, the number of which 
vary according to the width of the skirt and of the 
material. 

To form the diagram of the front of a skirt, take — 

ITS B Half the width of the 

material (width of the 
diagram). 

Length of front of skirt 
(length of the diagram). 
Mark ABCD. 
Note. — This diagram 
supposes a material of 
the usual width of 27^^ 
inches, which is divided 
in half, thus giving \zV\ 
inches for the width of 
the diagram. 

The diagram ABCD 
being formed, from A to 
B mark 4 inches, plus 
i^ (fixed measure) ; from 
A to C, J4 ; join dot ^ 
to dot i}{ by a slight 
curve, this line forms the 
front half of the skirt, the 
1^4 plus serves for the little fold which hides the 




340 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 
pocket. From dot i^ draw a line which ends at D. 




To form the diagram of the bias breadths, take- 
Width of the material (width of the diagram). 
Length of skirt, taken at the hip (length of the dia- 
gram). 

Mark ABCD. 

From A towards B mark 5^ inches (fixed measure) 3 



CUUTING OUT BY ME A S UREMENT 34 1 

from A to C 1)4^ (fixed measure); join dot i^ to dot 
5/^ ; from D to C mark 5^ inches ; join by an oblique 
line dot 5^3 on line AB to dot 5/^ on line CD ; the line 
which joins the dots 5^ forms the two bias breadths 
of the skirt, narrow at top and wide at bottom. 

Note. — Should any one wish to make two breadths 
from one width of material, as the diagram shows, the 
material must not have a wrong side. If there be a 
wrong side, it will be necessary, in order to form four 
breadths from two widths of material, to place the 
wrong sides facing each other. 

VIII 

VERIFICATIONS OF THE PATTERNS FOR A BODY 

(By the Eighth Measure — Testing Measure). 
For this purpose join the back, the side-piece of back, 
and the front of the body at the seam under the arm. 




The three patterns thus joined form half the body, 
which is to be tested by taking half the testing meas- 



342 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

ure plus y%. To accomplish this object, the inch tape 
must be laid on the line BD, underneath the armhole ; 
the horizontal distance from BD to AC ought to give 
us the number obtained when taking half the testing 
measure plus 1/i. 

If, however, instead of obtaining this result, half 
the testing measure is found plus i^, recourse must 
then be had to the variable seventh measure — the sec- 
ond width of back — which in such a case ought to give 
a lesser number of eighths than the first width of back, 
and whence arise the seven-eighths which we found in 
excess. 

These must, therefore, be deducted from the side- 
piece of back at the armhole (at the seam which joins 
it to the front underneath the arm). But as the seven- 
eighths thus taken away from the side-piece would 
make the figure too tight at the waist, we must restore 
them to the front by measuring the fourth of round of 
waist, plus i^, and by dividing the surplus of the 
material into two equal parts, which can be again 
divided between the two darts. 

Note. — The curves which join the back to the side- 
piece must not be joined at top or bottom, because 
the arm and the waist are smaller, and the shoulder- 
blade is the most prominent portion of the back. 

IX 

DRESSES FOR YOUNG GIRLS AND CHILDREN 

To make dresses for young girls, the same number 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 343 



of measures must be used as for grown persons, and in 
the same way, except alone for the front part of the 
armhole, for which the number of eighths given by 
the size of wrists must be plus 3/^. 

Note. — Every one whose wrist measures but 5^, 
and whose testing measure does not exceed 33^, 
should, to draft her pattern, take the fixed measures 
indicated on the plate below "For a girl fifteen years 
of age!' 

If the age of the child for whom the dress is to be 
made is not found in the tables, then take the age 
below for which the fixed measures are given, but 
never take the age above. And to be more exact, you 
can, moreover, ascertain the difference between the 
fixed measures of the age above that of the child and 
those of the age below. 

That difference will enable you to draft a third plate 
for the intermediate age. 

FOR A GIRL FIFTEEN YEARS OF AGE 




Note. — The width of the shoulders must be 2^ more 



344 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

than the first width of the 
back. The fixed measures 
are indicated in every dia- 
gram, b}' numbers, which 
must not be increased, and 
whicli help in the drafting 
of every pattern. 

A CHILD ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE 

Note. — The width of the 




shoulders, taken in front, must be two inches more 
than the first width of the back. 



CHILDREN FROM ONE TO FIVE YEARS OLD 

Children at this age are not, as a rule, very patient ; 
consequently, it will be difficult to take on them the 
twelve variable measures necessary in the case of grown 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 345 

9 

V:)ersons. We must be satisfied, therefore, with but 
five. 

Example. — Variable measures belonging to a child 
two years old : 

Length of bod}- ..... 9— >^- 

First width of back. . ... 9- 

Testing measure .... i — %. 

Size round wrist .... 4. 

Length of skirt .... 15 — ^. 
From these five variable measures are derived the 
seven others which we have not taken upon the child. 
See the table of age, where the number of eighths 
will be found noted which the width of the shoulders, 
taken in front, ought to have greater than the first 
width of the back. 

Example. — First width of back, 9. To this number 
add 5/Q=gSyi, which will give the width of shoulders, 
taken in front. 

The number given by the testing measure will give 
us the exact size of the child back and front ; but that, 
though correct, will be insufficient, and the frock would 
be too tight across the chest, because, in the case of 
children, when we add up the width of chest and first 
width of back, the total gives is/g more than the test- 
\n^ measure. To find the width of chest and second 
width of back, take a number equal to the first width of 
back=9j^, and the number given by tlie testing meas- 
ure:z=2i',4^ ; from these two numbers sul)tract : 



346 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

Example. 21^ 

9 -|- ^/^ =: 9^ gives the second width 
of back. 

Remains, xi.}^ + \yi =: i3>^ gives the width of 
chest. 

The +0 + 1^ added to the two numbers obtained, 
give us the result which the adding up of the two vari- 
able measures ought to have — the width of chest and 
second width of back — neither of which we have taken 
upon the child. 

The length of the body gives the length of the back 

The testing measure, less^, gives the round of the 
waist = 2oi^. 

The number given to us by the size of the wrist, 

produces four variable measures : 

I. Length under arm = 4 inches. 

2 Outer length of arm = three times the size of 
wrist + if^ =1^ X. 4 + i^ = 13^. 

3. Inner length of arm = twice the size of wrist 
+ 2^ = ^x4 + 2^= loi^. 

4. Size of arm at armhole = twice the size round 
wrist + 1^=^x4+1^ = 9>^. 

Variable measures are used exactly in the same man- 
ner as for the body of a woman's dress, except the 
three following : 

1. Size round wrist plus three-eighths — to form 
the armhole at its front part. 

2. Size round wrist minus two inches —to form 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 347 

the armhole at the back when there is a side- 
piece. 
3. Size round wrist minus seven-eighths — to form 
the armhole when there is no side-piece at back. 
To form the width of the diagram for the side-piece 
of back, take the fourth part of round of waist, less 
seven-eighths. 

X 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING A DRESS OR OTHER 
GARMENT BEFORE MAKING IT UP 

When, after having taken the variable and the fixed 
measure, the patterns have been drafted, tested, and 
cut out, they must be placed on the material, leaving 
a few eighths for the turnings-in, which should be par- 
titioned as follows : 

1. iS/z inch for the lap down the front of the body. 

2. 1]/^ inch for the shoulder-seams, those of the 
side pieces at back, and of the sleeve. 

3. yi inch for the slope of the neck and the arm- 
holes. 

In order to keep in mind the turnings-in. put pins 
■along the edge of the paper pattern, but only at the 
seams where they exceed half an inch. As a matter 
of course, it is unnecessary to mark the turnings-in at 
the slope of neck or armholes, as they are only two- 
eighths outside the pattern. The pins which mark the 
seams must be. put through the two pieces of material 
on which the paper pattern is laid. 

When the material for the body and sleeves is cut 



348 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

out, and each pattern traced ont with pins, the paper 
patterns are taken off. Then the darts must be traced, 
and the proper distance marked between them on the 
front of the body, with pins. To find this distance, it 
is necessary to measure, with the inch-tape, 3^ inches 
horizontally from the lap down the front of the body, 
and to stick a pin at this point ; then again, to meas- 
ure 2^/^ inches, sticking in another pin, which marks 
the distance between the two darts. Their height 
should be i5^ below the armhole. 

At the bottom of the front of body where the pins 
mark the lap, measure i^ inch horizontally, stick in a 
pin, then with more pins form an oblique line, ending 
in the pin at dot 3^. 

To find the number of eighths which each dart should 
contain, see what we have said as to the second use of 
the fifth variable measure — round of waist (page 333). 

The darts being traced, the two pieces of material are 
lightly tacked together, and the lines traced by the 
pins traced by thread, which operation ended, the pins 
marking the turnings-in are taken out, being replaced 
by the threads. 

Each piece composing the body is then lined, care 
being taken that the two different materials of dress 
and lining are laid in the same direction. When 
each of the pieces has been separately lined, they are 
all pinned to each other. 

I. The darts, closely following the threads by which 
they have been traced, and beginning at the top. 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 349 

2. The side-piece of back at the curved line in the 
back, beginning at the armhole. The curved 
line must be kept on the side-piece. 

3. The back and front of the body, great exact- 
ness being necessary in the armholes. 

4. The slope of neck, back and front, also very 
exactly ; then the slope of shoulder is formed. 
The back being more bias than the front, must 
be sustained by pinning the seam together. 
When the different parts of the body are thus 
collected, they must be basted together. 

We cannot too strongly advise beginners to baste 
with small stitches ; otherwise, when trying on a gar- 
ment, the stitches open, and the dress, when properly 
sewed later, becomes too tight, necessitating after 
touches, most unpleasant to the worker. 

XI 

DIFFERENT DRESSES 

(Dress with Basque.) 
To draft the pattern of a dress with basque, take the 
same numbers of variable measures as for an ordinary 
dress; the only difference being, that when writing 
down the numbers for length of body, of back, and 
underneath arm, the length desired for the basque must 
be fixed upon, and that number of eighths added to 
each of the ordinary measures. 

After having tested the measures, add to tlie three 
following measures a certain number of eighths, which 
place within a parenthesis: 



350 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

1. Width of chest. 

2. Round of waist. 

3. First width of back. 

Use of the Parenthesis. — The parenthesis is only used 
for certain widths and sizes, and, to show at which 
angle of the diagram the number of lengths which it 
thus encloses are to be employed, a letter is added to 
them. 

Example. — Width of chest, 22^ inches (-[- 2^ B). 
The parenthesis shows us that the number it encloses 
is not to be divided, and must be added to the half of 
the preceding number, as every width is divided into 
two. In general, the number contained within the 
parenthesis is enclosed within vertical lines. The result 
of this measure is always to give greater amplitude to 
the hips. 

VARIABLE MEASURES FOR A DRESS WITH BASQUE 

1. Length of body, 15^ inches + 7?^ = 23^^. 

2. Width of shoulders, 18^. 

3. Width of chest, iy/^ (+ 2^B). 

4. Length underneath arm, 65,^ +7^ = i4/^- 

5. Round of waist, 26^ (+ 2^ divide in two i^ 
from B to A, and ^ from A to B). 

6. Length of back, 15^ + 7^ = 22^. 

7. Width of back, first width, 15^ (^ A); second 
width, 16}^. 

8. Testing measure, 38^4. 

9. Length of arm, first length, ii^i ; second length 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 351 



10. Size round arm, 15^. 

11. Size round wrist, 6^. 

Note. — For the round of waist, number 2^ in the 
parenthesis, is divided into two parts ; the first meas- 
ures i^, and is placed on the diagram of the side-piece 
or small piece of back, and the second measuring six- 
eighths, on that from A to B. 

I. DRAFT OF THE FRONT 

To draft the diagram of the front, take the length of 
the body, 15^ -f 7^ = 23^, or height of the dia- 
Q gram ; the half width of 

chest ii>^ (+2^ -6) = 
145^, width of diagram. 

At angle B take off the 
(2^) which have been 
added to the second varia- 
ble measure — the width of 
chest. For the use of the 
fixed measures here rep- 
resented by figures, and 
that of the variable meas- 
ures in the annexed dia- 
gram, see Section VII. 
(page 334). 

Note. — The darts must be prolonged, diminishing 
them gradually to the bottom of the basque. 

2. DRAFT OF BACK 

To draft the diagram of the back, take — 




Oa^ysiS 



4-{ndit9 



352 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

The sixth measure — length of back — 15^ •\- 8^ 
= 24 (height of the diagram). 
The seventh measure — first half-width of back = 
lY^ (+78 A) = 8^ (width of diagram). 

From A towards B take away 
the seven-eighths that have been 
added to the first width of 
back. For the use of the fixed 
■measures, marked b}' numerals, 
and that of the variable meas- 
ures, see Section VII. On line 
AC, at the dot which indicates 
the length of back : First, we 
must take off horizontally three- 
eighths, and draw a vertical line 
from the point obtained towards 
A and towards C; this last 
forms a slightly curved line, 
which gives a little fulness to the basque. Second, 
on the line AC we must take off three-eighths, then 
at this dot measure horizontall}- ly^ (fixed meas- 
ure) ; join dot i^ to dot y% — the armhole — by a slightly 
curved line, and from this same dot draw a straight 
line to the line CD. 




c m) 



3. DRAFT OF THE SIDE-PIECE OF BACK 

To draft the diagram of the side-piece of back, take — 
The fourth measure — length underneath the arm — 
^H + 7^ = i45'8 (height of diagram). 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 353 




ca 



o o 



The fifth measure — fourth of round of waist — 1/% = 
6}( (+ 2^) = SVs (width of diagram). 
£jf A f. ^ ff^i ) Note. — The number (2^) add- 

ed to the round of waist, is divided 
into two parts, the first consists of 
1 5^, drawn from B towards A ; the 
second of six-eighths, drawn from 
A towards B. From A toward B 
carry six-eighths, and from this 
point draw a line parallel to that 
between A and C. 
The use of the fixed measures are indicated by fig- 
ures. 

From B to A measure i^ (fixed measure). 
From B to D measure i^ (fixed measure). Join 
dot 13^ on line AB to dot i^ on line BD by a slightly 
curved line. From dot i^ on line BD towards D, 
measure the number of eighths given by the fourth 
variable measure — the length under the arm = 6^, 
and mark it by a dot. From this dot measure Ji hori- 
zontally (fixed measure). From dot i}( of line BD to 
dot }i of same line, draw a straight line, and from the 
same dot Ji to dot O, draw a curved line. 

Note. — From dot ^ on line BD a dotted line must 
be drawn parallel to line AB, and ending on AC. From 
the dotted line measure toward A on line AG j}( (fixed 
measure), and join dot i}{ of line AG to i}:^ of line 
AB by a lightly curved line, From dot ij^ of line 
23 



354 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



AG by a slightly curved line. From i^ of line AG 

to dot C, draw an oblique line. 

For Draft of the 
Sleeve, see the ordi- 
nary dress sleeve, 
Section VII. 

DRESSING-GOWN 

The draft of a dress« 
ing-gown consists 
in the pattern of — 

1. The front. 

2. The back. 

3. The s i d e- 
piece of back. 

4. The sleeve. 
To obtain the 

height of the three 
diagrams in whi«h 
the body and skirt 
are to be drafted, 
take the variable 
measures and write 
down the number 
given by the length 
of the body ; then 
measure to the bot- 
tom of the gown, 
and add two inches 




CUTIING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 355 

to the number obtained ; the total of these two numbers 
will give us the height of the diagram for front of 
gown. The length of the dressing-gown varies accord- 
ing to the taste of each person. 

For an ordinary dressing-gown, three French metres, 
or 3 5'ards lo^^ inches, are generally allowed for the 
bottom of the skirt, which leaves i yard 23 inches to 
be divided between the three diagrams necessary for 
body and skirt. 

1. DRAFT OF FRONT 

To find the height of diagram of front, take the height 
of the person from the shoulder (at armhole) to the 
bottom of the skirt plus two inches, total 583^ inches 
(height of diagram). The width of diagram must be 
the width of the material, let us say ig^ inches. 
From A to C mark by a dot the length of the body. 
From A to B mark by a vertical line the half width of 
chest = 10^. 

Note. — For the use of the fixed measures represented 
by figures, and of the variable measures contained in 
the diagram, see Section VII. From dot ^ at bottom 
of armhole, measure vertically the fourth measure — the 
length underneath arm = 6^^. From the point ob- 
tained, begin a curved line, v^hich must end towards 
D. 

2. DRAFT OF BACK 

To find the height of the diagram, take the height 
of the person, from the shoulder (at the neck) to the 



356 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



bottom of the gown = 59 inches (height of diagram) 

The width of dia- 
gram is the width 
of the material let 
lis say 19^ inches 
From B towards 
A carry half the 
first width of back 
^ 77,-^ inches, and 
mark by a dot ; 
from this dot, draw 
a line parallel to 
AC equal to the 
length of back, 15 
3,'^ inches, and mark 
by a dot ; this point 
marks the waist, 
from the waist pro- 
long the line par- 
allel to AC another 
5^, which gives 
additional length 
to the waist, then 
from the end of this 
line, and in a di- 
rection parallel to 
DC, measure y%. 
From the point 
which marks the waist, measure horizontally yk, and 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 357 



join dot Y% to dot y% by a slightly curved line, which 
will form the prolongation of the body. From dot ^ 

J^L4^ ^ draw an oblique line, 

which will end at 
the vertical line N. 
Then, with the as- 
sistance of the fixed 
measures indicated 
by figures, we can 
form the slope of 
neck, of shoulder, 
and the armhole. 
From dot, ^'s line N, 
measure in a line 
parallel to AB five- 
eighths (fixed meas- 
ure), and join it to 
dot 1^ by a slightly 
curved line, then 
from dot i}{ draw a 
line parallel to the 
line N. Line m and 
;/ show the material 
which is required 
for the folds. 

3. DRAFT OF SIDE- 
PIECE IN BACK. 

To find the height 
of the diagram lor the side-piece of back, take the 




358 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

height of the person, under the arm to the bottom of 
the skirt, plus 2 inches =^oj^ (height of diagram). 

The width of diagram will be the width of the mate- 
rial, let us say igf^. 

From B to A carry 4^ inches (fixed measure), from 
dot 4^ measure vertically the number given by the 
fourth variable measure — length underneath the arm = 
6^ + i}{ (fixed measure ):^7)>^, and draw a line par- 
allel to AC. From dot 4^ to A, measure the fourth 
round of waist less ^=15^, and mark by a dot. From 
this dot draw a line parallel to dot 4^, which will form 
the three sides of a small diagram, in which the side- 
piece should be drawn. From dot 4^ and parallel to 
BD, carry i^ (fixed measure); from dot 4^ towards 
A, carry equally i^ (fixed measure), and join these 
dots by a curved line, which will form the armhole. 
At the end of the line and dot 4^ and parallel fo BA, 
take away seven-eighths (fixed measure), and join by 
an oblique line to dot i^ of line 4^. From dot 
^ draw a curve line towards D at the end of the 
line which runs parallel to line 4^, and, in a direc- 
tion parallel to BA, measure i){ (fixed measure), 
then join by a curve dot i}( oi line AB to dot i^ 
of that parallel to line 4^. 

To find the prolongation ot the body, the parallel 
must be increased six inches by a vertical line. At 
the end of this line and in parallel direction to BA, 
measure i^ inch (fixed measure), and join it by an 
oblique line to the parallel line under dot i}^. Line 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 359 
m shows the material required for the fold of the skirt. 

4. DRAFT OF SLEEVE 

(See Section VII.) 
Having drafted and cut out the patterns, we must 
test them by the testing measure. When we cut out the 
material every pattern must be placed on two pieces 
of it laid together, the two right sides being next each 
other; if this precaution be not observed, one will be 
cut on the wrong, and the other on the right side of 
the stuff. The back, side-piece of back, and sleeve, 
must be cut in the same way. When the material is 
cut out, care must be taken to leave sufficient for the 
turnings-in, and for the hem at bottom of the dressing- 
gown, 

LOW ROUND WAIST 

To make a low body with round waist, take the same 
number of variable measures as for a high dress. 

Note. — When we take the seventh variable meas- 
ure — the first width of back — we should calculate seven- 
eighths less when the shoulder falls a little towards 
the arm, but if the shoulders are short, then we may 
follow the measure exactly. 

For a high dress, the second variable measure — the 
width of the shoulderstakeninfront — ought to have lyi 
more than the seventh variable measure — the first width 
of back — while for a low body or low apron, the width 
of shoulders taken in front ought not to have more than 
ij^ more than the first width of back. 



360 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



The variable measures of body and width of back 
are not used in their entirety. 

Example. — Length of bod)^, say 15^. To find the 
number of eighths which ought to form the height of 
the diagram, see in Section VII. the drafts of the pat- 
terns for a body. 

In the diagram of the front, on the line AC is found 
the fixed measure, number 3^, in a vertical line; 3^ 

— ^ leaves 2^ inches; 2^ must be deducted from 
the number given by the length of the body, 15^ ; 15^ 

— 23/^= 13 inches (height of diagram). 

The width of diagram is equal to the half-width of 
chest = 9^ inches. 

HALF-WIDTH OF SHOULDERS z= 8^ INCHES 

From A towards B carry the half-width of shoulders 
%]/{ inches ; mark by a dot ; from 
this dot measure verticall}^ seven- 
eights. On line BA from the dot 
which marks the half-width of 
shoulders, carry towards A i^ 
inches; join dot ^ to dot \]^ 
by an oblique line, which forms 
the shoulder-seam ; from A 

towards C measure 3^ inches, and join dot i^ to 

dot lyi by a slightly curved line. 

DRAFT OF BACK 

Length of back, 15^ inches. 
To find the height of the diagram of back, see the 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 361 

draft of the back in the body of a grown woman, line 
BD. On that line the fixed measure indicates the 
slope of the shoulder as being of four inches. Num- 
ber 3^ must be deducted from the number given by the 
length of back, 15^ inches; i5->^ — 3/^= 12)^ inches 
(height of diagram). The width diagram will be 
equal to the half-width of the back = 6^^. 

J^ a From B towards D carry ^ (fixed 

measure). From B towards A carry 
i^, and join by an oblique line dot 
y% to dot i^, which forms the shoulder- 
seam. From A towards C measure 4 
inches, and join dot 4 to dot iJ4^ by a 
slightly curved line. From B towards 
D carry the size of wrist, less 2|/^, and 
take off parallel to BD ^^ ; join dot ^ to dot ^ by 
an oblique line. From C towards D carry ^, and 
join dot yi on line CD to dot Y^ by a slightly curved 
line. 

XII 




HOW TO TRANSPOSE THE FIXED AND THE VARIABLE MEASURES 
WHEN IT IS WISHED TO THROW THE SHOULDER SEAMS 
TOWARD THE BACK 

The fixed measures which must be transposed for this 
purpose are two : 

The first, which indicates the shoulder-seam (front 
of the body), instead of being3^ becomes only 



362 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

The second, which indicates the slope of the shoul- 
der-seam (back of the body), instead of being 
4 inches becomes 5^. 
The variable measures are also two : 

I, The width of the shoulders taken in front, 
instead of being 2^, ought to be 4^ more than 
the first width of back, which must never be 
changed. 
2. The size round wrist, instead of being 6^, a£ 
given by the measure, must have two inches more 
to form the front of the armhole ; to form the 
back of the armhole we must take one-third of 
size round wrist. 



SHOULDER SEAM 

Having made the slope of 
neck, measure from A toward 
B half the width of shoulders 
= 9^ inches, and mark it by 
a dot ; from this dot descend 
\y^ (fixed measure), and join it 
to dot 2^ at slope of neck by 
an oblique line, which will form 
the slope of shoulder. 
To form the front of the armhole, measure from dot 
114^ in a parallel line to BD the round of wrist -f 2 = 
8^4^, bringing it at same time back to line BD by a 
horizontal stroke ; from this stroke, towards B carry 
^, and join yi to the horizontal stroke by an oblique 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 363 




line, and to dot i^^, the slope of shoulder, by a curved 
one ; which will form the armhole. 

DRAFT OF BACK 

After having formed the slope of 
neck, measure from B towards D 
5^ (fixed measure), and join dot i^ 
of slope of neck by an oblique line, 
which will form the slope of shoul- 
der. 

ARMHOLE 

From dot 5}^, towards D, meas- 
ure the third of size round wrist, and mark it by a dot; 
from this dot measure horizontally ^ towards AB, and 
join by an oblique line to dot 5}^. From C towards 
D measure ^, and join it to dot f^ by a slightly curved 
line. ■ 

For the side-piece of back, see Section VII. For 
the sleeve, see Section VII. 

XIII 

DRAWERS FOR A WOMAN 

(Variable Measures) 
Outer length of leg (from the hip to below the knee) 
= i%y^ inches — Testing measure = 37^^, Round of 
waist =27^. Size round wrist =6^. The latter three 
are conventional measures. 

DRAFT OF DIAGRAM OF DRAWERS 

Height of diagram — outer length of leg 28^^ inches 



364 CUT! IN G OUT BY MEASUREMENT 

-\- the two thirds size round waist = 4^ inch, let us 
say 32^. 

Width of diagram 
— half the testing 
measure less i^ = 
17^ inches. 

Note.— To draft the 
pattern on the mate- 
rial, you must meas- 
ure on the selvage 
twice the height of 
the diagram plus 3^ 
for the hems. Then — 

1. Cut out the 
material. 

2. Fold it hori- 
zontally, that 
is to say, join 
the two ends. 

3. Fold it then 
vertically, by which you join the four selvages, 
which will represent to you the line of the dia- 
gram AC. 

The material being thus folded, you must -test it to 
see if the width of the diagram is equal to half the 
testing measure, less i^'s, and strictly follow the pre- 
scribed use of the fixed measures and the variable meas- 
ures indicated on the diagram. 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 365 

The fixed measures are indicated by figures, and tlie 
variable measures by letters. 

From A towards B measure i^ (fixed measure). 

From A towards C measure 5^ (fixed measure), and 
join it to dot i)^ by an oblique line. From B towards 
A measure the third of the testing measure, 12^ inches, 
and mark E ; from this dot measure vertically 3^ 
(fixed measure). From B towards D measure two- 
thirds size round waist = 4^^ mark h and join this dot 
to dot 3^ by an oblique line. From H to E draw in 
same manner an oblique line. From A towards C take 
half the testing measure plus i^ = 20^, and mark F. 
From dot F measure towards A, 4^ ; from dot 45^;^, 
in a parallel line to AB, measure the: two-thirds size 
round waist =: 4^ ; mark g, and join this dot to dot F 
by a curve, and to dot 3^ by an oblique line. From 
D towards C measure the size round wrist + 4= loj!^, 
mark ;/, and join this dot to dot F by a slightly curved 
line. 

Note. — The line which starts from line // and passes 
by the dots 3^, ^and F, forms the front part of drawers. 

DRAWERS FOR A YOUNG GIRL 

(Variable Measures.) 
Outer length of leg (from the hip and below the knee) 
= 24>^ — testing measure = 28^— round of waist = 
23/^ — size round wrist =5^^. The latter three are 
the conventional measures. 

DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR DRAWERS 

Height of Diagram — the outer length of leg, 24^^ 



366 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



and the third of size round wrist + J^ let us say, 27 
inches. 

Width of diagam — half the testing measure, less i^ 

= T2i4. 

Note. — To draft the pat- 
tern on the material, the 
selvage must be measured 
and cut twice the height of 
the diagram, plus 3^ for the 
hems. Then — . 

1. Cut out the material. 

2. Fold the material hor- 
izontally (join its two 
ends). 

3. Fold it then vertical- 
ly, by which the four 
selvages will be joined, 
and will represent to 
us line AC of the dia- 
gram. 

The material being thus folded, you must test it to 
see whether the width of the diagram is equal to half 
the testing measure, less if^, and afterward the fixed 
and variable measures, as indicated on the diagram, 
must be strictly followed. 

The fixed measures are indicated by figures, the 
variable by letters. 

From A towards B measure \]^ (fixed measure). 
From A towards C measure 4 inches (fixed measure), 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 367 

and join this to dot ij^ by an oblique line. From B 
towards A measure one-third of the testing measure r= 
9^, and mark E ; from this dot descend 2 inches (fixed 
measure). FromBtowards D measure one-third the size 
round wrist -j- ^ = 2^; mark //, and join this dot to dot 
E, and to dot 2 by two oblique lines. From A towards 
C measure half the testing measure plus 1^ = I5li> 
and mark F; from this dot towards A measure 2^ j 
from dot 2^ measure in a line parallel to AB, the 
third size round wrist ~\- ^ = 2^ — ^ ; mark g, and 
join this dot to dot 2 by an oblique, and to dot F by 
a curved line. From D towards C measure the size 
round wrist + 2^ := 8}^ ; mark ;«, and join it to dot 
F by a slightly curved line. 

Note. — The line which starts from dot /i and passes 
by dots 2, g, and F, forms the front part of the draw- 
ers. 

XIV 

APRON, PRINCESS SHAPE 

(For a child of Eleven). 



VARIABLE MEASURES 



Full length of apron . 


37^ 


Width of shoulders 


H'A 


Testing measure . 


. 28^ 


First width of back 


13 


Length of arm 


18^—13^ 


Size round arm . 


13^ 


Size round wrist . 


5'A 



368 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 



VERIFICATION OF THE VARIABLE MEASURES 

Iff B 1- The width of 

' shoulders, taken in 

front, must have i^ 

more than the first 

width of back. 

2. The testing 
measure gives us 
the width of chest 
and second width of 
back. 

We take the num- 
ber which gives the 
first width of back 
■= 13, and make a 
subtraction with the 
number given by 
the testing measure 
= 28^ ; then, hav- 
ing obtained the 
desired result we 
add 4^, and divide 
them as follows : 

EXAMPLE 

Testing measure . . 28^ — 13= 15^ 
Second width of back . 13 -|- 1 1^ = 141^ 

Width of chest . . 15^ + 3^ = 18^ 

DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR FRONT OF APRON 

Height of diagram — the full length of apron = 373^ 
inches. 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 369 



Width of diagram — the two-thirds of the testing 

measure = 19^. 

From A towards B measure half the width of chest 

=9^ — /^ ; mark by a dot , from this dot draw a line 

parallel to AC, and mark it NG. 

Follow the fixed measures indicated on the diagram 

by figures. 

Having formed the slope 
of neck from A towards N, 
measure the half-width of 
shoulders = yyi and mark it 
by a dot. From this dot 
descend 2 inches (fixed meas- 
ure), and join it to dot 2^ 
at slope of neck by a slightly 
curved line. From dot 2, at 
slope of shoulder, measure 
on a line parallel to NG the 
size round wrist + ^ = 
5^, bringing it then back 
to line NG by a horizontal 
line ; towards N measure ^, 
then from dot ^ to dot 2 
draw a curved line. From 
dot ^ of armhole to angle 
D also draw a slightly 
curved line. 

DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR BACK OF APRON 

Height of diagram — 37^, full length of apron. 




370 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREAIENT 



Width of diagram — 14^'^, half the testing measure. 

From A towards B measure half the second width 
of back = 7^, and mark it by a dot. From this dot 
draw a line parallel to line AC, and mark it NG. 

Slope of Neck. — From A towards N measure 2^ 
(fixed measure). From A towards C measure ^, and 
join it to dot 2^ by an oblique line. The line between 
A and N will be found to contain half the first width 
of back = y% ; mark by a dot, and from this dot meas- 

^ fn f Q ure vertically 6^ (fixed 

n 



measure) ; join the two 
dots 2^ by an oblique 
line, which will give 
the slope of the shoul- 
der. From dot 2^, 
slope of shoulder, meas- 
ure in a vertical direc- 
tion the size round wrist 

— iM^=4/^' bringing 

P (k \t then back to line NG 

by a horizontal line ; mark F, and join dot F to dot 
2^, slope of shoulder, by a slightly curved line. 

DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR A SLEEVE WITH WRISTBAND 

Outer length of arm, i8>^ (height of diagram). 

Size round arm, 13^ + 2 = 15^ (width of diagram). 

From A towards B, size round wrist 5^, and mark 
by dot m. From A towards C measure one-third of size 
round wrist i5<^ — ^4, and mark it by dot ;z; join m 
and 71 by an oblique line. From C towards A measure 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 371 

i^ (fixed measure). From C towards D mark the 
size round wrist by a dot// join dot /to i^ by an ob- 
lique line. Mark the size round wrist twice r=: loj^^ 
-|- 2^ = i3> on the line between C and D by the letter 
G. From B towards D measure the two thirds of size 
round wrist -|- ^ = 3^, mark it by the letter E, and 
join it by an oblique line to the letter G. From B 
towards A measure the site round wrist, mark it by 
the letter F, and join letter E to F by a curved line. 

DRAFT OF THE DIAGRAM FOR WRISTBAND 

Height of diagram — 2^ inches. 
Width of diagram size round wrist -|- 2 = 7^. 
'^ ^ Lay the selvage of the material 

on AB. 



C 

Note. — Should anyone wish to make an apron, 
Princess shape, for a child older or younger than 
eleven years, see page 367 and the following, where the 
fixed measures are given appertaining to different ages. 
The difference between an apron. Princess shape, and a 
dress, must be looked for in the "Verification of varia- 
ble measures." 

Example. — Apron for a child of eleven years old. 
Width of shoulders, taken in front . 14^ 

First width of back .... 13 



Remains . \yi 

In the dress of a child of eleven, the width of 
shoulders, taken in front, must have two inches more 



372 CU TTING OUT BY ME A S UREMENT 



than the first width of back. This difference is re- 
quired for the slope of neck in the back, the fixed 
measure from A towards B for the apron being 2^, 
while for the dress it is only i^. The same rule ap- 
plies to all ages. 

APRON WITH SHOULDER STRAPS 

The only peculiarity about this apron is a square 
piece in front and back joined by shoulder straps out 
according to a paper pattern. The lower portion of 
the apron is gathered, before and behind, into straight 
bands, first sewed on to the upper part with the shoulder 
straps. To make this apron, we take the five follov/- 

ing variable measures 

Length of apron . . . 23^ 

First width of back . . . 11 

Outer length of arm .... 13^ 

Size round wrist .... 4^ 

Testing measure .... 22^ 

I. DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR SHOULDER STRAPS 

^ — 9 Height of diagram. — size round wrist 

■^ +1^ = 5^ 

Width of diagram — size round wrist 

less i)i =3/{- 

From B towards D measure j4 (fixed 
measure), join dot J/s to letter A by an oblique line. 
From C towards D measure two-thirds of size round 
wrist, let us say 2^, and join it to dot }i by an ob- 
lique line. The material must be laid double on line 




£ 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 373 

AC. On line CD the front square piece of apron body 
must be sewed, and on line E ]/^ the sleeve. Two 
shoulder straps must be cut out. 

2. DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR THE SQUARE FRONT OF APRON 

BODY 

/, R Height of diagram 

— one-third the size 



^ O round wrist = I ^. 

Width of diagram — the first width of back, 11 inches, 
less one-third size round wrist, lY^ =^ 9^. 

On line AB the material must be folded double along 
the selvages, and angle B joined to line E of the first 
diagram. 

3. DRAFT OF DIAGRAM OF BACKPIECE 

Height of diagram — one-third the size round wrist, 
let us say i^. 

Width of diagram — half the first width of back, 5^, 
+ one-third size round wrist, i^ =6^ inches. 

The two pieces, back and front, must be cut out 
S alike. On line AB the material 
I must be folded double along the 



/ 



C ^ selvage. Angle A must be joined 

to the oblique line E ^ on the first diagram. 

4. DRAFT OF DIAGRAM FOR FRONT OF THE APRON 

Height of diagram — length of apron, 23^ — 2^ = 
21^. 

Width of diagram — two-thirds of the testing meas- 
ure. 



3 74 CUTTING OUT BY ME A S UREMENT 



From A towards B measure the first width of back 
= 11 inches, and mark the point P. Fom this point 
draw an oblique line to angle D. From line B towards 
A measure one-third the size round wrist =^ i^g, and 
mark it by F. From P towards D one-third size 
round waist -j- ^ = i% ; mark it by the letter E, 
then join F to E by a curved line, which will form 
the armhole. Oh line AC the material must be folded 
double along the selvage. 

Note. — The diagram for 
back of apron is exactly the 
same as for the front. For 
the diagram of sleeve see 
page 370. By strictly follow- 
ing the prescribed use of 
the variable measures, this 
shaped apron can be made 
up for children of all ages, 
between one and thirteen 
years. 

LOW-NECKED APRON FOR A CHILD 

When we desire to draft the pattern for a child's 
low-necked dress or apron, it is necessary, after having 
taken the variable measures, to test them carefully, 
looking back to Section IX. regarding dresses for 
young girls and children, in order to see the number of 
eighths required for the first width of shoulders, taken 




CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 375 



in front, and then to subtract but half the number 
marked in each different age. We must also observe, 
in the diagram of the front, on line BA, the indication 
of the fixed measure for the shoulder. On the dia- 
gram of the back, line BA, we shall find the fixed meas- 
ure, slope of shoulder. 

Example. — Child of eight years old. In the diagram 
of front, line BD (fixed measure) 13^; i^ — i^ = 
yi. This i^z taken off from the fixed measure is at 
the same time taken off from the length of the body. 

DIAGRAM OF FRONT 

The height of the diagram is equal to the length of 
the body, 13 inches — i^ = ^^Ya- 

The width 01 diagram is equal to the half-width of 
the chest = 7^. 

VARIABLE MEASURES 

Length of body . . . 13 inches. 

Width of shoulders. . . iS}i-j4 

Width of chest . . . 15^ 

Length underneath arm . . 5}4 

Length of back . . . 12^-^ 

Width of back — first, 11^, second 

width . . . 13 



Testing measure 
Length of arm (outer) 
(inner) 
Size round arm 
Size round wrist 



25 3^ 
13 

5H 



376 CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 




From A towards B measure the half width of should- 
ers, and mark it by a dot. From this dot measure in 
a line parallel to AC f^ (fixed measure) the slope of 
shoulder. On line AB from the 
dot which marks the half-width of 
shoulder measure towards A i^ in- 
ches, and join by an oblique line 
dot i^ lo dot Y%, which will give 
the slope of shoulder. From A 
towards C measure 2^ inches, and 
join dot 2^ to dot \% by slightly 
curved line. 

Armhole. — For the armhole take the number given 
by the size round wrist ; from dot y% measure verti- 
cally the number obtained, and mark it by a line drawn 
parallel to AB ; from this parallel line measure ^ 
towards B ; join ^ to the parallel line by an oblique 
line, and this one again to dot ^, the slope of shoulder, 
by a curved line. 

Darts. — For the darts, see Section TX where the fixed 
measures are indicated. 

DIAGRAM OF THE BACK OF A LOW-NECK BODY OR APRON 
NOT HAVING A SIDE-PIECE. 

In the diagram of the back, on line BD, the fixed 
measure is 2^ — ^, and 1]/% — y^ — \y^ z= y^ 
becomes the fixed measure, the slope of back. The 
i^ in the length of back must alsobetakea off, which 
will give 12^ — 1^/8 = II inches (height of diagram). 

From A towards B measure half the first width of 



CUTTING OUT BY MEASUREMENT 377 



back, and mark it by a dot ; from this dot measure ver- 
tically Yz (fixed measure). From the dot which marks 
half the first width of back, measure towards A i^ 
inch, and join dot i^ to dot S/z by an oblique line. 
From A towards C measure 2 inches, and join dot \% 
to 2 by a slightly curved line. Measure vertically 
from Yz the size round wrist, less i^ 
and mark it on line BD ; then join 
them by a slightly curved line (the 
armhole). From D toward C meas- 
ure i/z, and join dot yi to dot F by an 
oblique line. From C towards D 
measure ^7^, and draw an oblique line 
from ^ toward 2. Between the dots Y^ and ^ on line 
CD, there should be found the fourth of size round 
waist, less ^. 




m -0 ''''^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




